Naruto of Chaos
by jean010
Summary: A man that searches for redemption. A child who's family neglects him. A change in fate that will shock the Elemental Nations to the core. This is the tale of two people that will change everything, one as a teacher and the other one as a student. NarutoxHarem. Neglected!Naruto. Strong!Naruto. Fem!Sasuke. Crossover with Fairy Tail. Other minor Crossovers
1. Prologue

Naruto of Chaos

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Monster/Gods/Other beings speech

**'Kurama'** Summons/Monster/Gods/Other beings thoughts

"_**Rasengan**_" Techniques/Terms

**Update 27/08/14: Thanks to Sylaurias for fixing this chapter**

**Prologue:**

**A Dark Mage's Fate and a deal with the Devil**

Death. Such a simple word and yet such a powerful term. Some people would say that death is the end for every living being, while others would say that death is nothing but a new beginning, the start of a new adventure, but a few people will tell you that death is a release, a way to escape the sins and the pain that someone commits on you, or the pain that you have on mankind.

One such person would have to be the man that right now is floating in a place that could only be described as a void of nothingness, after all the only thing that could be seen was darkness.

Going back to the man that was floating in this endless void, he's a young man with a face that could be considered handsome, with black short hair and black eyes with a small circle-shaped necklace around his neck. He wears high-collared black and tan robes with gold trim, along with a large, flowing white toga draped around his torso. For people that do not know who this man is he would be seem odd, but for those that do know him his simple presence can cause panic in the heart of the bravest warriors. This is a man whose name would be recorded in history as one of the most powerful and evil beings in existence. This is the monster known as The Dark Lord Zeref.

'Is this place where my soul will finally rest?' Was the thought going in Zeref;s mind just before his mind went back to the memories of all the sins that he caused to the world; of all the pain his own creation caused and how that same creation ended his sad life

"E.N.D... such a cursed existence... you might never forgive me, but I am truly sorry...Natsu" said the powerful mage softly before simply closing his eyes and accepting his fate of everlasting nothingness in the void where he's floating is.

**"Would you like a chance to correct you sins, Zeref?"** spoke a powerful voice that seemed to echoe everywhere. Zeref's eyes opened fast in surprise; after all he thought he was going to be in this void alone for ever.

"Who are you?" asked Zeref, his voice dull, but with a slight amount of curiosity in it

**"I have had a lot of names dark mage. Some see me as evil itself, while others believe I am a necessary force, but I am neither. I'm what your kind would call a god. I am the Shinigami"** once again spoke the ominous voice, making Zeref's eyes widen in surprise for just a second after finding out the identity of said voice.

"I see... did you came here to punish my soul for the deeds of my creations and my own set of wrong acts?" spoke Zeref softly, already resigned to whatever punishment the god of death would give him, after all he himself knew that he deserved every single punishment that this god could give him

**"That is the task that Kami gave me. However it is not normal for me to pay special attention to anyone's soul, but for you, someone whose evil deeds brought the complete destruction of his own world, I was tasked to curse your soul and give you eternal punishment"** spoke the Shinigami, his voice completely devoid of emotion. Zeref was more than ready for something like that, so the announcement didn't surprise him at all, but the next word of the Shinigami actually did.

**"However, unlike my foolish sister who sees you as nothing but a mistake, I see someone that could be of use to me"** said the god of death, making Zeref wonder what this god was talking about, wasn't he going to be punished?

"What are you speaking about?

**"I'm saying that there is a way for you to atone for your sins in a more... useful way than by just punishing you, Zeref"** said the Shinigami, waiting to see if the little human would accept his offer

"There is? No, such a way cannot exist; my sins are too many and too big for me to redeem myself. Don't joke with me, Shinigami" said Zeref with a little of emotion actually surging in his voice: anger. After all he was thinking that this god of death was just joking with him just to postpone his punishment so he could enjoy himself.

**"Don't forget with whom you are speaking to, human. Do you think I would waste my precious time with you like this? I could just send your soul to eternal punishment and be done with you, but I find you too useful for that, so I'm making you a proposition, you can either accept your fate and suffer for all eternity for your deeds... or you can accept the task that I will give you so you can atone for your crimes"** spoke the Shinigami once again, actually hoping that the human would accept. After all, souls as interesting as his were not common. The Shinigami knew that by doing this he was disobeying an order from Kami herself, but he did not care, he was tired of letting everything happening by itself, but he also knew that he could not mess with the humans unless they called him, which rarely happened anyway, so he needed a proxy in the human world; one that could change things for him, and who better than one like Zeref, whose powers in his world were second to none.

While the Shinigami was expecting an answer, Zeref could not stop himself from thinking about what the god of death had said. Was there really a way for Zeref to atone for his crimes? Suddenly a strange feeling made itself known in Zeref's heart, it was hope. Hope that there was really a way he could make amends for the countless of lives that his demons, E.N.D, and that he himself had destroyed. Hope that he would be able to find forgiveness if he does what the Shinigami asked of him.

**"What is your answer human? Will you right your wrongs or will you let your soul to be cursed forever?"** Asked the Shinigami one last time, expecting a positive answer from this little Dark Lord

"I... if such a way is truly possible then... I'll do it, I'll do anything in my power, even if I'm never forgiven for my acts I still want to try... to try and find peace with myself" spoke Zeref, this time his voice having more passion that he had never shown in his life. Suddenly the space around him turned completely cold, just as a ghostly creature began to form. Said creature was bigger than him, with long white hair and with a face that could only be described as demonic, and with a tanto between his fangs. It only took Zeref a second to identify the creature as the Shinigami himself; after all he doubted that any other being could appear in this place. But just before he could say anything, the newly formed Shinigami said the words that would start a change that no one could predict.

**"Very well Zeref, destroyer of his own world, creator of E.N.D. Are you ready to change the strings of fate itself?"**

The answer could not have been more obvious in Zeref's mind

"Yes"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Konohagakure no Sato, 9 years after the Kyubi attack_

9 years have passed since that horrible night where the powerful Bijuu known as the Kyubi no Yoko attacked the village of Konoha, destroying it almost completely and killing a big part of its population. It was only thanks to the actions of the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, that the beast was defeated. The Yondaime knew that killing a Bijuu was almost impossible, so he did the only other thing that could defeat it. He sealed it in the body of a newborn child.

The Yondaime, being the person he is, could not bring himself to ask any other family to sacrifice their children, so with a heavy heart he sealed the Bijuu (Tailed Beast) in his new born triplets, the Ying part of its chakra was sealed into his only daughter, Uzumaki-Namikaze Mito, meanwhile the Yang part of the chakra was sealed in the youngest of the newborn triplets, Uzumaki-Namikaze Menma.

For such an incredible feat the Yondaime had to use the powerful _**Shiki Fujin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal)**_, summoning the Shinigami himself and asking him to split the Kyubi in exchange for his own soul. Minato was more than ready to give his own life to protect the village he loves, knowing that his wife, Uzumaki Kushina, would have been able to take care of the children even without him, so imagine his surprise when the Shinigami just brushed him off, telling him that for this job, a payment of the soul was not needed. The user of the _**Hiraishin no jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)**_ was more than happy to be able to live with his family, not knowing of the Shinigami's true intentions.

That same day the Yondaime made the announcement that the village was saved thanks to his two children, Menma and Mito, since they were able to contain the chakra of the mighty beast. Minato told the whole village that his children were heroes and should not be treated as some sort of reincarnated Kyubi. The village was fast to accept that. They had complete trust in the words of their precious Yondaime, and started calling Menma and Mito the "Saviors of Konoha".

Now, 9 years after that tragedy, this day was not one full of sadness and grief, but one of joy and celebration. After all not only there was there a huge festival in honor of the defeat of the Kyubi, but it was also the birthdays of the saviors of Konoha. Everywhere around the village people were celebrating, but the true party was at the Namikaze-Uzumaki residence, where the young Mito and Menma, now 9 years of age, were having their birthday party.

The house of the Namikaze-Uzumaki clan was not as big as the other clan houses, but it was big enough to keep all the guests that showed up to the party. These guests were the heads of every important clan of the village along with the next heirs of said clans, and some important people to the family, such as Kakashi Hatake, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya and Tsunade Senju of the Sannin.

The party was going at full blast and everyone was having a good time, but the ones that were most happy were of course Menma and Mito. Menma Uzumaki-Namikaze could only be described as a miniature version of Minato, with his spiky blond hair and blue eyes, although his personality was more like that of his mother, Kushina Uzumaki. After all, it was hard for the boy to not pull a prank at someone when he could. In contrast to him his sister, Mito Uzumaki-Namikaze, is a carbon copy of her mother, with long red hair that reached to the middle of her back and violet eyes. Although her personality was more like Minato, calm and collected. Alongside the two birthday kids was another little girl, this one looking like she was 6 or 7 years of age. She had red hair just like her sister, with the only difference being that hers was put into twin-tails, and she has blue eyes, just like her father. This girl is no other that the fourth child of the Namikaze-Uzumaki household, Natsumi Uzumaki-Namikaze. The youngest red head was nothing short of a bundle of joy, always having fun with her family and with a smile on her face all the time.

Yes, if someone were to look at this scene they would think that they are the perfect family, but of course nothing is perfect. After all, nobody noticed that the third birthday boy was nowhere near the house.

NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC

_Meanwhile, on the Hokage Monument_

While everyone else was having a great time, one small child had nothing but sadness and pain in his heart. This small kid had blonde spiky hair and sky-blue eyes, with 3 whisker mark on each cheek, giving him a unique look. The blond was wearing a black shirt with the symbol of his clan on the back, a red spiral, and white shorts. This boy was none other than the third Uzumaki-Namikaze child, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze.

You might be asking why someone like him is here alone, and with so much sadness in his heart. Well the answer to that is simple, once again, just like every year, his family has forgotten about him; celebrating the birthday of his brother and sister but not his.

'Why? Why does this keep happening? Why did my family forget about my birthday again? Why do they never notice me? do... do they hate me?' were the thoughts that the young blond was having in his mind right now, some tears falling from his eyes just from thinking of his family hating him.

Since he could remember, his family always treated him differently. While his brother and sister were always praised with almost anything they did by their parents, he barely got them to acknowledge him. They always ignore him, and while Menma and Mito had already started their ninja training, he has not, and every time he asked for it he would get the same answer from each of his parents "We must focus on training your sibling in controlling the Kyubi's chakra, so we can't teach you"

When his little sister was born he thought that he would finally have someone that would treat him like family, but sadly that did not happen. After all Natsumi was able to use the Uzumaki Chakra Chains, something that only his mother could do, so his parents decided to start her training sooner, and now he was the only one that was excluded from the family training time.

It was not only his mother and father that ignored him, his siblings were even worse. Menma was always a brat to him, telling him how weak he was and that his parents loved him more. His sister Mito would always be cold towards him. She started being like that 2 years ago and now she barely speaks to him and when she does, it is only just a few words. His little sister, Natsumi, was more annoying than anything, always bragging to him about every cool thing that she learned with their mother or father and acting like a spoiled child.

It was not only his family that had forgotten him, but the village as a whole has forgotten that he was too a part of that family. Some of the more stupid villagers treated him like he was the Kyubi reincarnated because of his whisker marks

Naruto was so focused in the thought in his thoughts about his family that he did not register the sounds of someone walking towards him until said someone spoke to him in a soft and emotionless voice

"What are you doing here kid?" spoke the person, making Naruto jump in surprise, not expecting anyone here at this hour. When he looked at the man the first thing that came to mind was that his clothes were weird, and that his hair and eyes made him look like an Uchiha. It took some seconds for Naruto to actually register the question in his mind, but when he did he answered with a voice full of sadness

"I have nowhere else to be" Naruto did not know why he was answering, but he just felt that this weird looking man was not going to harm him, unlike some of the villagers that sometimes hit him

"Don't you have a family that's waiting for you? It's late after all" asked the man softly, his black eyes focused on the child and nothing else. Of course he already knew the answer, having watched the boy interact with his family for a while, but he wanted to kid himself to respond, just to see exactly how much pain he had in his heart.

"I do have a family but... they don't care about me, they never have, they even forget about my birthday every year... no one cares about me" said Naruto, his voice full of hurt and his eyes had some tears, showing the man that he was right. The pain caused by his family was too much for the young kid, and now it was his time to act

"I see... no one should have to live like that, especially a child like you" said the man before putting his hand on the boy's head, making said kid look at him with a face now with more surprise than sadness, but before Naruto could ask him anything the man spoke again

"Tell me Naruto-kun..." Said blonde was even more surprised about this man actually knowing him "... would you like to change your life?" asked the man softly, his black eyes looking directly into Naruto's blue ones. Naruto felt like this man was staring directly into his soul.

"W-what are you talking about?" asked Naruto, his voice full of doubt, but for some reason he found himself not afraid of this man, like he knew that this man was not going to harm him in any way.

"I'm asking you if you would like to change, Naruto-kun. Would you like to be strong enough to never feel so weak in your life? Would you like to have someone that would care for you so that you would never have to be alone, Naruto-kun?" These words made Naruto look at the man like he was insane, but you could still see a little glint of hope in those blue eyes.

"I-I can change like that?" asked Naruto, looking at the black haired man like he has all the answers in the world.

"Of course you can, Naruto-kun, we can always change, but that path is never easy, I'm asking you again Naruto-kun, do you want to stay like this, being treated like nothing from your family and like a monster by this village, or would you like to become something more?" asked the man, knowing that the next word that the young blonde would say will be crucial.

Meanwhile Naruto's mind was racing. This man right here was offering him a chance to never feel so weak and alone again. While a part of him was telling him that you can't trust in someone you barely know and that if he stayed with his family then they would change. Another bigger part wanted nothing more but to accept this man's offer. So it was with that mentality that the young Uzumaki-Namikaze answered

"I want to... change, I want to show my family that I can be strong too, that I'm not useless, I want to prove myself that I can become someone!" spoke Naruto, his voice overflowing with conviction, causing the man to get a little smile, before his face returned to his neutral look, fast enough that Naruto was not able to see it

"Very well... then from now on I'll teach you everything I know, but it's only up to you if you learn it" spoke the man just before crouching and putting a hand on the floor. Naruto looked at him weirdly for that, but he was too happy to finally have someone that would teach him how to be strong to really care, but one thought stopped him right in his tracks

"Wait... sensei, I don't know your name" said Naruto, just remembering now that his new sensei never introduced himself

"I'm sorry, I forgot. I have had many names and titles Naruto-kun but you can just call me..." just as the man was about to say his name, a strange black circle appeared under both Naruto and the man. Naruto would have freaked out, but he was too surprised for that, after all he had never heard of any jutsu like this, but his attention went from the circle to the man just before he muttered the name that would always stay in his memory

"...Zeref"

And with that they disappeared in a black flash.


	2. What it Means to Learn From a Dark Mage

Naruto of Chaos

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

"Acnologia" Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'Kurama' Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

"Rasengan" Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**AN: This chapter will answer some doubt you may have about the things Naruto is going to learn.**

**Disclaimer: I forgot to put this in the prologue so here it goes. I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Hiro Mashima**

**Updated 24/2/2015 (Beta-read by FlamingBlaze)**

**Chapter 1**

**What it Means to Learn from a Dark Mage**

_Konohagakure no Sato, 11 years after the Kyubi attack_

If someone were to tell anyone in Konoha that in a hidden part of the Hokage Monument existed a magical circle that, when activated with magic, would send you to a secret training area that not even the Hokage know about, they would probably believe that the person was going crazy, and that things like magic did not exist…

Sadly for them, such a place does exist. Said place was big, but really simple, with nothing but walls of stone, and a big magical circle that covered the whole floor of the room. The room was illuminated by torches embedded in each wall, since no sunlight reached this training room.

Right now, there were only two people in this room. They were the same people that had been training here for two years already. One of the figures was a tall man with dark black hair and even darker black eyes, wearing clothes that other people would consider weird. This man is known as Zeref, and right now he is watching the other figure that had spent a really big part of the last two years in this same training room

Said figure was definitely male, with spiky blond hair with two bangs framing his face, with deep blue eyes and whisker marks in each cheek. This boy was wearing something simple in comparison with his sensei: a simple long-sleeve black shirt that had a symbol on his back that looked like the head of a dragon in silver color. He was also wearing black cargo pants and blue ninja sandals. He was tall for a boy of his age and he had an athletic body borne out of the training he had been doing for the last two years. This boy's name was none other than Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, first son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki and of course, apprentice of the dark lord Zeref.

Right now Naruto was crouching and breathing hard, his clothes has some holes here and there, and he was sweating like there was no tomorrow. This was the normal state that the young blonde had every time he spared with his sensei; meanwhile Zeref looked completely perfect, as if nothing had happened, showing the abysmal difference in skill these two had.

"Are you ready to take a break, Naruto-kun?" asked softly Zeref, his voice still emotionless as ever. The dark mage already knew the answer to this question tough, after all his apprentice was the type that would train until his body could no longer move.

"No... I can still go on...sensei…" Said Naruto between breaths while slowly getting up, ready to keep sparring with his sensei. However, in his opinion, this was more like a one-sided beat down since he could never land a hit on his sensei, and in one of those rare times when he did, Zeref would just brush him off like nothing happened.

"If you say so..."said Zeref, just before moving at a speed too fast for Naruto to see and kneeing him in the stomach, making the young blonde fall again with his hand clutching his stomach, while trying to get some air in his lungs.

"You should know when to rest already; even though your dedication is admirable, sometimes it becomes more stupid than anything," Said Zeref bluntly, getting a groan of annoyance from Naruto. The dark mage went back to the center of the field and started meditating while his apprentice rolled on his back, his body full of pain and that last hit did not help at all.

"It has been two years already and yet you still refuse to rest when I tell you... you're too stubborn for your own good," said Zeref once again, making his apprentice attention go from the ceiling to him.

'That's right... it has been two years since I met him,' thought Naruto, remembering that fateful day in which Zeref accepted his as apprentice. That thought made Naruto smile, remembering his first day of training with Zeref and the revelation that he was what people in his world called a mage.

Yes, that was definitely a day he would never forget…

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_2 years ago, the day after the Kyuubi Festival_

_Naruto woke up with a groan, feeling like yesterday was the best birthday he ever had, which was probably because he had finally met someone that actually cared for him and was giving him a chance to become strong._

_That thought made Naruto jump out of bed as fast as someone of his age could, and start looking around the place he was, which was obviously not his bedroom. This room was really quite simple, having just a bed, a desk, a closet and two doors, one of which led him to a bathroom. The young blonde got out of the room and ended up in a long hallway that was illuminated by some torches._

_'This is really creepy' thought Naruto, wondering if his new sensei really lived in this weird place. After a few seconds of walking Naruto ended up in a really big room, also illuminated by torches, and with a weird looking circle covering the floor completely. However before the young Uzumaki could say anything a voice he was really happy to hear sounded behind him..._

_"It seems you're finally awake Naruto-kun; good, there are some things I need to tell you before we start doing anything," said Zeref with his normal emotionless voice, making Naruto wonder what was he going to tell him. He just really hoped that training with this man was a good idea, after all Zeref was still a stranger to him, but he just felt like he could trust him, so with shaky steps he followed his new sensei to the center of the big room. Zeref just took a seat on the floor and started meditating while Naruto just stood there waiting some something to be said._

_After some really awkward minutes Naruto decided to break the ice himself : "So... Zeref-Sensei, when are you going to teach me how to be a ninja?" asked the young blonde, a little more energetic, excited by the prospect of becoming a strong ninja; however, that dream was basically crushed by Zeref next words._

_"I'm not going to teach you how to be a ninja Naruto-kun," Zeref said softly, opening his eyes to see his new apprentice's reaction, and just like he guessed Naruto's reactions was priceless. His eyes were huge, while his mouth opened and closed, but no words came out of it. It was only after a minute that the young blonde was able to calm himself enough to be able to speak, although his voice came out like a squeak._

_"W-what do you m-mean by that Sensei?! You told me you were going to teach me everything you know! Or was that nothing but a lie?!' Naruto all but yelled, pointing at Zeref with his index finger like he had caught him red-handed doing something bad. The dark mage could only sigh at his apprentice's reaction, although he supposed it was normal for a young boy to yell like that when upset about something, it did not mean he had to like it._

_"Yes, I told you that I would teach you everything I know, but I never said that I would teach you how to be a ninja, did I?"_

_"B-but what are you going to teach me then?!" Naruto once again yelled, although Zeref's answer sure shut him up_

_"I'm going to teach you magic," answered Zeref bluntly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world._

_Complete silence. Whatever Naruto was going to say died in his throat thanks to Zeref's words. For a moment neither sensei nor student said anything, just looking at the other without even blinking. But of course, it was the young blonde that had to break the ice again._

_"Was that supposed to be a joke? Because if it was, it was a really bad one sensei," deadpanned Naruto, looking at his new teacher like he had lost his mind. Zeref could only sigh again at this reaction; but he supposed that again it was considered 'normal', so he would just have to prove what he was talking about._

_"Perhaps a little demonstration is needed," said Zeref just before extending his arm and opening his palm and before Naruto could even say anything again about his sensei mental status a little ball black as night appeared in Zeref's hand. Naruto was completely amazed by that, and then he was even more surprise when Zeref threw the black ball to one of the walls. As soon as the black mass of magic impacted with the wall a big explosion that rocked everything occurred, lifting a lot of smoke from the impacted wall. When the smoke cleared itself Naruto could see that the wall had a big hole right at the middle and big cracks all around the wall itself_

_"W-what kind of jutsu was that?!" asked Naruto, thinking that the spell had to be some sort of strange just that his sensei had created_

_"That was not a jutsu Naruto-kun, it was magic" answered Zeref, preparing himself to answer the many question that Naruto was going to have_

_"B-but that's impossible, magic is not real! I mean, it can't be…right?" refuted Naruto, sounding a little doubtful at the end. Zeref sighed one again and motioned Naruto to sit at the floor_

_"This might take a while Naruto-kun, but I will explain everything to you..."_

_And explain he did. Zeref told Naruto everything, from how he was from another world and was brought here to redeem himself to how magic worked in his world, meanwhile Naruto was giving Zeref his full attention, sometimes asking a question or making comments about certain things. Even though Zeref didn't want to lie to his new apprentice he decided to not tell him about his world's destruction by the hands of his own creation, at least not for know, fearing a little bit the reaction that the young boy may have and that he might ended up fearing magic, or worst, Zeref himself._

_By the end of the tale Zeref had to admit that he was impressed by Naruto's understanding, not only he understood everything Zeref said, but he also made some pretty deep comments about magic itself._

_After the whole explanation was told, Zeref just stood there, waiting to see if Naruto was going to ask anything else, which of course the blonde did after thinking for a few seconds._

_"But sensei, how am I going to learn magic when I don't have a magic container in my body?" Naruto asked, still thinking about everything Zeref had just said. He had to admit that his new sensei's story sounded really crazy, but since he did demonstrated some magic while explaining he really had no other choice but to believe it. Although that did not meant that the young blonde did not have any more questions; what did his sensei do in his old world that was so bad for him to want to redeem himself, and how exactly was he sent to this world?. Naruto really wanted some of those questions answered, but he decided not to ask, thinking that his sensei was not ready to tell him that, so he would wait as much as he could for those answers._

_"You're correct Naruto-kun; people in this world can never learn how to use magic since they don't have a magic container filled with magical power, just like I can't use any jutsu since I don't have any chakra in me. There is also the fact that this world doesn't have Ethernano, which is necessary to be able to refill a mage's magic container after using magic," Zeref answered, not worrying at all about this problem since he had already a plan for Naruto to use magic, although it might take a while for that to work._

_"B-but then how I'm I going to learn it if I can't use it? And if there is no Ethernano in this world then how are you refilling your magical container, sensei?" asked Naruto once again._

_"Don't worry about that Naruto-kun, I promise that when the time is right you will be able to use magic, just leave it to me. And about your second question, I have found that there exists a third type of chakra in this world that comes from nature itself, and after a lot of trial and error I was able to use said natural energy to refill my magic container by meditating," Zeref answered, thinking about some of the most weirdest things that happened when he was experimenting with natural energy_

_Those were days that the dark lord was going to take to his grave._

_"Then what are you going to teach me now?"_

_"We'll start first by training your body, mind and spirit Naruto-kun. Let me remind you Naruto-kun that once we start there is no going back, understood?" Zeref said, just before the big magical circle that was on the floor flashed with energy, illuminating the whole room with purple light. Naruto watched the circle, surprised, but then his gaze went to his sensei's eyes, knowing that this man was analyzing him completely, seeing if he was going to doubt or second guess his decision. But the young blonde had already decided that he was going to become strong, it did not matter if he learned magic instead of jutsu, so that he could prove everyone, and more important, himself, that he was not useless and that he could be strong even without his family's help. So it was with nothing but determination in his eyes that the young soon to be mage answered his sensei's question:_

_"Yes!"_

_And thus the training began…_

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

Remembering that day made Naruto start thinking about the training regime that his sensei had created especially for him, starting with every day after breakfast (which Naruto always ate alone in his bedroom before his family woke up), he would run to the Hokage monument where Zeref would be waiting for him to activate the magical circle and teleport them both his secret training room. There they would simply start training: From Mondays to Wednesday they would do nothing but physical training, which had not only given Naruto a top-notch physical condition, but also made sure that his reflexes and pain tolerance were just as good. To make things harder, Naruto's clothes had a spell that would make them feel a lot heavier that they really were while he was on the training room, and he was not allowed to take them off while he was here. Now on Thursday and Fridays it would be nothing but combat training, in which Zeref would teach him his own combat style along with other styles that he knew just to see which style suited Naruto better, and after that the two of them would spar, meaning Zeref would kick Naruto's ass like there would be no tomorrow while the blonde complained about how unfair that was. Zeref may have not liked to fight with his fists, but that did not meant he wasn't a master at hand-to-hand combat, something that Naruto's bruised body could testify to.

The last day of training, Saturday, was the most calm of them all, since the only thing that they did was play games like shoji, or Zeref would give his apprentice different war-like scenarios in which he had to find the best strategy to win. After that the both of them would sit and meditate, something that Naruto was not very good at the beginning, and every time he moved or made a sound Zeref would smack him in the head, something that got a lot of curses in return from his apprentice

Sundays would be Naruto's free day in which Zeref told him he could do anything, but he could not come to the training room that day, so Naruto normally spent it doing chakra exercises in some empty training ground, since Zeref told him that just because he would be learning magic it did not meant he should forget about jutsus completely, since being able to use both was an advantage that Naruto should not throw away, so Naruto spent a good part of his free day doing chakra control exercises and practicing some of the most easy jutsus like the_** Kawarimi no jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)**_, _**Bunshin no jutsu (Clone technique)**_ and _**Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique)**_ that he had read about in some scrolls that Zeref had given to him.

Naruto had to admit that he was a little skeptic at the beginning about using magic, since he did not have a magic container like his sensei, but those fears where whipped away by what Zeref did to him just a year after beginning his training

That was the day he became a mage after all!

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_1 year ago, A Room Hidden in the Hills (Training Facility for Zeref)_

_The young blonde known as Naruto was walking the hallway that leaded to the training room, wondering about what his sensei wanted, after all his sensei has never asked him to come on a Sunday, not once since they started training, so whatever is that he wanted it was probably going to be big._

_The young apprentice finally reached the training room, and just as always his sensei was sitting in the middle, meditating. Naruto always wondered if Zeref did something else besides meditating and training him, since those are the only things he has seen the man doing ever since the two of them had met._

_Just as Naruto stepped in the room he could feel the increased weight of his clothes, but at this point it didn't really bother him though…_

_'Which means they are going to become heavier soon' thought Naruto with a knowing sigh, already anticipating that what it would feel like when that happened. The young blonde approached his sensei and then he sat down, waiting for whatever Zeref was going to tell him. Said dark mage opened his eyes and once again looked at his blonde apprentice eyes, but for Naruto it felt he was staring into his soul, just like when the two of them met. After a few seconds of just staring it was Zeref who was the first to talk, surprising Naruto; he normally initiated conversations._

_"Do you remember what I told you when you asked me about how you were going to use magic?" asked Zeref softly, getting a nod of acceptance from Naruto_

_"Well I believe that you are finally ready Naruto-kun, so after this day you're going to be able to use magic like me," revealed Zeref, getting a surprised expression from Naruto, who was trying to compute what his sensei just told him in his brain._

_"Really?! But how?!" asked Naruto, hoping that this was not some kind of joke that his sensei was pulling off, although he had never seen Zeref telling a joke, or even laugh for that matter, but as they said: there were first times for everything._

_"I have created what you could call an artificial magical container Naruto-kun, it took me a while but I was successful in the end. Today I'm going to be fusing my creation with your body; making sure that you chakra network does not get damaged in the process. That was one of the reasons for why your training so far has been heavily physical, since if I had done this a year ago, statistically speaking, you would be dead or had your chakra network decimated, and thus heavily damaging your body." Zeref told him calmly, knowing that what he was about to do today could easily go wrong if it was not done with the best of his abilities._

_"How did you create something like that? Besides, even if it works, the problem about filling that magical container with Etherano still exists" said Naruto a lot more calmly that he truly felt, but it was thanks to Zeref teachings that he was able to control his emotions. Zeref had told him that it was an important part of the training, since magic was heavily based upon one's emotions and that if he didn't learn how to not let his emotions run wild, magical accidents could easily happen._

_"I created it by using the __**Kuroi Geijutsu (Black Arts),**__ the epitome of dark magic. I won't tell you the specifics for creating it since the __**Kuroi Geijutsu (Black Arts) **__is one of the most powerful and obscure type of magic that exist, and someone as young as you should not know about them." Zeref said, his emotionless voice hardening a little bit when talking about that type of dark magic, getting Naruto to flinch a little bit._

_"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but that type of magic is something that no one should have ever learnt, yet I did, and it has brought me nothing but despair since then... this is truly the first time I have made something with that magic that doesn't bring regret to my heart," Zeref said softly, getting Naruto to calm down again, wondering about how powerful was that type of magic if even his sensei felt like that towards it._

_"Now about your second question, is true that, in theory, even if I put a magical container in your body it won't be able to fill itself since there is no Etherano in this world. I was able to fix that, however. When I fuse the magical container with your body I'm going to alter your chakra network so that it fuels your magical container, and since this magical container is a creation of my own, I made so that it will turn the chakra it gets into Etherano, making you able to use magic," Zeref said, making his apprentice's eyes to go wide in surprise and awe at his sensei's abilities to create something like that._

_"Now lay on your back, this procedure is going to be long and hard, and it's probably going to make you feel pain like none other than you have felt," said Zeref while walking to the far end of the room where a little box resided. Naruto did as told and just as soon as he did that black chains appeared from the ground and tied themselves around each one of his limbs, making Naruto completely unable to move._

_"W-what the hell is this sensei!?" yelled Naruto, trying to move his arms and legs but the chains were too tight for that, so he just ended up flopping around on his torso._

"_I can't have you moving around while I do this, Naruto-kun, or something might go wrong. Like I just told you this is going to hurt you a lot, but it's the only way," said Zeref, an actual frown appearing on his face knowing that he was about to put his apprentice in a pain like no other, but sadly for both of them (mostly for Naruto) there was just no other way for this to work. Zeref opened the wooden box he had on his hand and took out what it looked like a simple glass sphere with an arcane symbol on a side of it. Suddenly the magical circle in the floor activated once again. Naruto would have been more than nervous if it wasn't for the fact that the man doing this was the only person he actually trusted, so he knew that even though it was going to hurt, Zeref was doing it for his sake. So it was with a brave face Naruto and a completely concentrated Zeref that the ritual began._

_Naruto would always remember that day not only as the one where he gained the ability to use magic, but also the day he felt the most pain he had ever known in his life._

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

The ritual had taken almost all day, and thanks to the pain Naruto had passed out at the middle of it. By the end of it Zeref was even panting, the procedure taking a toll on his magical abilities.

Naruto had never felt as tired as the day after that; he could not even walk straight because his whole body felt weak. Zeref had told him that it was his body getting use to it and that his chakra was going to be low until his magic container got fuelled completely, and that the training for the next week was cancelled and that he should just stay at home and rest, something that Naruto had not even the strength to complain about.

But all of that was more than worth it, since now Naruto was able to use magic just like a mage born in his sensei's world; sadly for him, however, Zeref had not taught him any real spell and had just taught him how to feel and release his magic. The reason for this was that Naruto's body was too unstable after the operation, so Zeref had to wait for his chakra network and magical container to stabilize before teaching anything to Naruto, so for the time being the training stayed the same, with lessons about releasing his own magic added in some days.

"What's on your mind, Naruto-kun?" asked Zeref, breaking Naruto from his thoughts about the past

"Nothing, just thinking about everything that you taught me these past two years…"

"I see... I know you want to learn spells already Naruto-kun, but don't worry, your patience will be rewarded when the time comes" said Zeref, knowing that that subject was always on the said blonde's mind.

"Yeah I know, it does not mean I have to like it though," Naruto mumbled, trying his best to imitate his sensei's emotionless voice and of course failing. The two of them brooded in silence, one of them meditating and the other one just relaxing for a few minutes until Zeref decided to bring an end to the day.

"You should go home already Naruto-kun, it's getting late" Zeref told him, and he wasn't ignorant of the annoyance in his pupil's eyes.

"I already told you sensei, it doesn't matter if I'm late or not, no one is waiting for me anyway," the young Uzumaki replied in a cold and detached tone, which was always present every time the subject of his family was brought up.

Even after two years his relationship with his family stayed the same, with him being always ignored by his parents and his siblings treating him as if he was garbage. In the last two years all the pain and sadness that he had harbored in his heart slowly morphed into anger and a little self-pity; after all what kind of parent forgets about their child? And what kind of brothers and sisters makes you feel like you're less than dirt?

"I know how you feel about your family Naruto-kun, but you should not let hate fill your heart or you'll end up on a path that will bring you nothing but death and despair," Zeref warned wisely, knowing perfectly about how hate could transform anyone into a monster. Naruto only nodded and got up wordlessly to leave, as he could use magic now, so he could activate the magic circle in the Hokage Monument and the one in his room here but before he could go into the hallway and towards his bedroom Zeref had some more parting words that would affect Naruto's future years heavily…

"Someone once told me that family is not just some people who you're related by blood or by a last name...That family are those people that you would gladly protect with your life... and that is the path to true power; through those bonds" said Zeref, remembering about the words that a certain short blonde guild master had told him. Naruto just nodded once again without even looking back and started walking again towards his bedroom, where the magical circle was, Zeref's words resonating in his mind.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

The moon was already high in the sky by the time Naruto got to the house his family resided in. He refused to call this place home; there was nothing here that even remotely called or comforted him to the point that Zeref's training room seemed more like a home than this place

As soon as Naruto walked into the house he was greeted by the sound of his family eating happily. Then against his better judgment and because of his curiosity he decided to just take a quick look and what he saw brought pain to his heart.

His family was eating joyously, both Kushina and Minato listening patiently to the numerous things Menma, Mito and Natsumi had done that day. Naruto's heart twisted at seeing how happy they were without him, there was not even a chair for him and the dining table, not that he expected there to be one, Naruto consoled himself, but it still hurt to know that the supposed family that should love you and guide you in life had forgotten completely about your existence. So it was with a heavy heart that Naruto entered his room, once again his sadness transforming into anger, but he crushed that feeling as fast as it appeared, remembering the words of wisdom that his sensei had imparted onto him.

'Why do I still care?' wondered Naruto in his mind, convincing himself that his family was never going to pay attention to or love him. It was at that moment that Zeref's last words of the day flashed in his mind, and he found himself accepting them whole-heartedly, after all what kind of family neglects one of his members to the point that his most trusted person in the world is an emotionless mage from another dimension?

'I'm tired of this... if they don't want to be a family to me then I won't beg for them to accept me, if they think they will be happier without me then I'm not going to get in their way, I'm tired of waiting for them to treat me like a son, like a brother... they're not my family anymore, no, they never were my family to begin with... my only family is Zeref, he's the only one that cares about me, he's more like a father than Minato has ever even come close to being.' Naruto, and for the first time in a while he felt relieved, as if a heavy weight he had been carrying around had finally been lifted off his shoulders. So it was with a clear mind and a determined heart that the young blonde drifted to sleep, thinking about the days to come.

Meanwhile, downstairs, the rest of the Namikaze-Uzumaki clan were still eating and talking happily, as if nothing was wrong in the world, not knowing that they had just pushed a member of the family over the edge of perhaps no return. It would take some years for them to finally realize what they did, but for them it was already too late…

The Namikaze-Uzumaki family was already broken, and in Naruto's heart, he knew there was no way anyone could fix it.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**AN: Well this chapter was mostly to explain some basics of the story; I have to say I was not expecting the prologue to be so well received. The next few chapters will deal more with the magical part of Naruto's training, the beginning of the academy and of course, Naruto's family.**

**It should be already obvious but I'm saying it anyway, this is an AU, so you can expect some changes, some of them small and others big, in the narutoverse, after all I never said how much time Zeref has been in the ninja world.**

**As a review pointed out, I made a mistake in the prologue about the Hiraishin and its creator, I can't believe I forgot about that fact but indeed, it was Tobirama Senju the one that created it.**


	3. The One That Rules Over Lightning

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

"**Acnologia**" Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama**' Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

"_**Rasengan**_" Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Hiro Mashima respectively.**

**Updated: 18/4/2015 (Thanks to AnimeAnomaly72)**

**Chapter 2**

**The One That Rules Over Lightning**

It was a known fact that if you wanted to live a long life in a place such as the Elemental Nations; You needed to know how to read a person, after all in a world where ninjas were a part of daily life the ability to know if someone was acting weird, unnatural, lying or purely acting was a necessity.

One person that considers himself a master of the art of reading people was none other than Zeref himself, after all he was more than 400 years old, and when you live that long you tend to pick up those kinds of skill.

So it was not really hard for said dark mage to pick up his student's changes, although considering that Zeref had been watching young Naruto since he was a baby he believed that any change in Naruto's behavior would never escape his attention

Normally every time he gave his apprentice a break from training, Zeref would find Naruto either in his room here or in the training area, just lying there and looking at the ceiling with a lost gaze that for some people held nothing, but Zeref could see the different emotions that his apprentice experienced every time his mind wandered: Hurt, betrayal, sadness, anger and sometimes pure rage, so Zeref had quickly come with the conclusion that every time that happened it was because the young blonde was thinking of his biological family and how they treated him.

During the two years of training Zeref had make sure that his apprentice knew that, even though feeling anger was normal, one should never let hate to control one's heart and actions, since that would lead to nothing but a dark path that it was best to never walk, and that if Naruto wanted to talk to someone about anything, Zeref was more than willing to hear about his apprentice's problems, something that brought a little of calm to Naruto's heart, but Zeref could still see all the sad feeling his apprentice held in his eyes every time he thought about his family

So it was really obvious for Zeref to notice the sudden change in behavior of his apprentice, after all instead of the sad gaze Naruto always had, this time he was laying there with his eyes close and a little smile on his face, making Zeref wonder what had happened with his apprentice after ending the training yesterday

"It seems you have found something to be happy about Naruto-kun, care to share what it is?" asked Zeref with a raised eyebrow, getting the young blonde attention, who just smiled some more to his emotionless sensei before starting explain the resolution he had gotten yesterday

After hearing Naruto's explanation Zeref could not have been more proud of his apprentice at that point, after all he had not let hate to control him even though he had every right to despise his family and wish them the worst.

"So, what do you think sensei? Asked Naruto, wondering what Zeref's thoughts about what he decided yesterday were

"I believe that you have showed more maturity than a lot of people in this world Naruto-kun. You have not let hate to fill your heart and revenge to fill your mind and for that I'm truly proud of you for that" said Zeref, a little smile, almost impossible to see, appearing on his face, causing Naruto to look away from his sensei look, feeling a little embarrassed after getting such a praise from the only person whose opinion mattered to him.

"I thought that I would be saying this in a month, but you have not only surprised me today, but also proved me that you're more than ready in both mind and spirit for it, so tomorrow Naruto-kun you're going to learn your first style of magic" said Zeref, his smile widening just a little bit at seeing the happy expression his student got after hearing the news.

Meanwhile Naruto was more than excited about the prospect of finally learning a style of magic. He was so happy that he could not contain jumping of joy, and the he started muttering about all the kind of magic he could learn. However his celebration was cut short by a powerful kick aimed to his head. The young blonde was barely able to dodge the kick by jumping backwards, increasing the distance between him and the kicker, which of course was none other than Zeref himself

"That does not mean the training for today is cancelled though, so don't go lowering your guard like that" Said Zeref, his normal emotionless expression once again in full display, getting a swift nod from his student, who still had a smile on his face, after all in his opinion this day was already one of his favorites and he knew tomorrow was going to be even better since he would finally be able to use magic properly.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

It was just after a few hours of training that Zeref had called the day off, telling Naruto to go and rest in his house since he needed to prepare some things for tomorrow and he didn't want Naruto to hang around while he prepared everything.

So it was for that reason that you could find the young blonde walking towards the house he lived in even though the sun was high in the sky, his mind wondering about what type of magic he was going to be learning. Of course the most logical choice would be dark magic, but he knew that he probably wasn't ready for such a dangerous type of magic, so he could only guess what Zeref had in mind for him to learn tomorrow.

While walking Naruto could feel some of the villager's glares that were directed in his way, and he didn't have to think hardly to now the reason for those glares. 'It's incredible how hate can truly blind someone... Just because I have whisker mark in my cheeks does not mind I'm some sort of demon, but I guess some people are just stupid like that' thought Naruto, annoyed by these people who had decided to concentrate the hate they felt toward the Kyubi on him.

He of course knew that he was not the Kyubi reincarnated, and when he asked Zeref about his whisker marks he told him that it was probably a side-effect of being in his mother's womb while she was the jinchuriki of the Kyubi at the time, and that any person that blamed him for the deeds of the Kyubi was nothing but a simple-minded fool who's hate would forever poison his heart.

Going back to Naruto, the young blonde had finally left the commercial district and entered the clan district of the village. Just like its name indicated this was the general area where the clan's houses resided. The bigger ones had to be both the Hyuga and the Uchiha clan, since they had a district of their own.

It only took a few minutes for Naruto to reach the Namikaze-Uzumaki clan's compound. Even though it was called like that, in reality the place was just a normal two-story house, not overly big but not small neither. Naruto entered the front yard, noticing that like always the security seals that the house had didn't activate by his presence, probably because of his blood or something like that, Naruto couldn't really know since he hadn't enough information about _**Fuuinjutsu (Seal Techniques) **_to know how the seals worked in the house, although he guessed that they were probably really complex since they were created by two masters of the art.

Naruto reached the door and unlocked it, wondering if there was someone in the house at this hour. He guessed that Minato must be working, so he's probably at the Hokage tower, but he was at lost about what the other members of this family do at this hour, although he supposed that they were probably training with Kushina in the backyard.

As soon as the young blonde entered the house he continued walking straight to the second floor of the house to reach his room there. He didn't have anything to do so he was just going to meditate for a while and after that read some books that he has or maybe just sleep.

"Where were you?" asked a soft, yet cold voice that made Naruto stop in his tracks completely and turn around so that he could get a good look at the living room and of course, at the person that just spoke to him.

Said individual was without a doubt female, with long red hair that reached to her middle back and framed her face. She has a cute heart-shaped face with violet eyes that right now where focused on Naruto's own blue eyes. This girl was wearing a simple white shirt that had the symbol of Konoha on its front. She was also wearing ANBU pants that she normally used for training and some blue sandals. The girl was sitting in the couch, a scroll lying in her lap, probably something that she was reading before our blonde hero entered the house. This girl was of course none other than Uzumaki-Namikaze Mito, first daughter of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina and of course holder of the Yang part of the Kyubi's chakra

Now Naruto was getting better at controlling his emotions but he was not even close to the level of control his sensei has, so it was no surprise that the young blonde got a surprised expression on his face after seeing who has asked about his whereabouts, after all he could not even remember the last time he talked to his sister, let alone any time she started the conversation herself.

Of course his sister was not always like that towards him, no, all of that started when they were seven and she suddenly started to ignore him. She never talked to him unless she really needed to and she always acted like he was not there. Before that started she was actually really nice to him, she would play with him and even defended him whenever Menma insulted him.

It really hurt Naruto to see how the one family member that treated him like a real family suddenly turned into a cold girl that didn't give a crap about him and he always wondered why she had changed her attitude towards him so much.

The young apprentice of Zeref had to take a few seconds to shake the surprise out of his face before answering the lie his sensei had told him to say if anyone ever asked about where he was at this time, something that had never happened though

"I was at the library" answered Naruto, doing his best to keep his face neutral and to not let anger get in his voice. This answer got nothing but a nod of acceptance from his sister, just before she went back to reading her scroll.

Since, in Naruto's opinion, the conversation was over, the young blonde continued his path towards his room, not seeing that, until he got out of sight his sister's eyes were watching him with a lot of intensity. Of course he also missed when her eyes turned from her cold one to one that showed her real emotions towards her brother

Ones of sadness and regret

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

It was at the next day that you could find an excited Naruto and an emotionless Zeref who was holding a wooden box similar to the one that had his magical container, standing in the middle of the magical circle that extended itself in the floor of the training room.

"So, what I'm I going to learn, sensei?" asked Naruto, looking at the wooden box in Zeref's hand with a look that had both interest and a little bit of fear, after all he remembered very well what happened last time something was taking out of that box

Without saying anything Zeref just opened the small box and took out what it had inside, which happened to be a crystal sphere that was the size of Zeref's hand. This sphere was quite peculiar though, since it was completely blue on the inside but is had a yellow thing on its center that looked like a spark. Another thing was that at one side of the sphere was a symbol that looked exactly like the one Naruto had on the back of his shirt: the head of a silver dragon.

"Can you tell me what this is, Naruto-kun?" asked Zeref, testing if his lessons about the magical world had stayed in his apprentice's mind.

Naruto looked at the glass sphere a little bit, thinking about all the thing Zeref had told him about his world since this thing was obviously magical.

"It's a Lacrima" said Naruto in awe, remembering the lessons about these little balls of magic that people used for different reasons

"Indeed, this is a special kind of Lacrima though, this what you could call a Dragon Lacrima" confirmed Zeref, making his apprentice look at the sphere in awe just before his brain kicked in and managed to figure what his sensei had planned

"Does this mean that the style I'm going to learn is _**Metsuryū**_ _**Mahō (Dragon Slayer Magic)**_?!" asked Naruto in complete astonishment, after all of all types of magic there is and his sensei was going to teach him such a powerful Lost Magic.

"Yes Naruto-kun, I decided that before teaching you my own style of magic you need to learn something different and since the advantages of this type of magic can't be denied, I decided that it would be a good style for you to learn" answered Zeref in a matter of a fact kind of tone.

"Now as you already know Naruto-kun, a Dragon Lacrima, after being infused in a mage's body, allows him or her to use _**Metsuryū Mahō (Dragon Slayer Magic)**_ just like if they had been training with a real dragon. That's what we are going to be doing today: fuse this Lacrima with your body, turning you into a 2nd generation dragon slayer" continued Zeref, waiting to see if his apprentice had any question before continuing

"Incredible, I'm going to be a dragon slayer..." muttered Naruto, looking at the crystal ball like it was a deity, which it probably was to him "... sensei, what kind of element does that Lacrima holds?" asked the young blonde, more than curious about everything related to the sphere that will allow him use such a powerful magic

"This Lacrima holds the element of lightning Naruto-kun, which means you're going to be learning _**Kaminari no Metsuryū Mahō (Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic)**_" Said Zeref, although he still had another thing to say before fusing the sphere with his apprentice

"Before we start the fusing process Naruto-kun there is something else you should now, this Lacrima holds something else besides the magic of a dragon, it also holds a soul Naruto-kun... the soul of a dragon" revealed Zeref, shocking his apprentice to the core

"What?! but how's that possible Zeref-sensei?!" asked Naruto, not understanding at all how something like that was possible, after all even if you found a way to seal the soul of a dragon in a Lacrima, there still was the fact about founding the soul itself, after all there were no dragon in the Elemental Nations... right?

"You must understand something Naruto-kun, dragons are beings whose strength is second to none. With that amount of power travelling between worlds is not such a hard task; at least it wasn't when they were many of them. From what I can understand five different dragons, each one holding the power of a different element, came to this world a long time ago during the civil dragon war in my world. The reason for that was to make sure that their race did not disappear in case the civil war ended badly. During my travels I ended up finding one of them: Raijin the Lightning Dragon King of this world. I asked him if there was any way for him to lend me a part of his magic, but sadly he said no, so I had no choice but to challenge him to a duel, knowing that a real dragon would never refuse such a thing, of course if I won he would lend me his power but if I lost he would kill me. I manage to win the fight, although it wasn't an easy one but I manage to defeat him, after that he told me in his dying moments that he wanted to know the person who would use his magic, so to honor that request I fused his soul with the Lacrima that holds his powers. Do you understand now Naruto-kun?" Said Zeref, remembering his meeting with the mighty beast that was Raijin. It was thanks to him that Zeref got the information about the other four dragons, but he hasn't been able to find any of them...yet

Meanwhile Naruto was repeating the tale that his sensei had just say in his mind in both shock and awe, shocked that there really are dragons in the Elemental Nations and awe because his sensei managed to defeat one, which if what he know about dragons is true, which should be since it was Zeref himself the one that told him about them, then his sensei must truly be one of the strongest person in the Elemental Nations right now.

"Is the soul inside the Lacrima going to affect the process, sensei?" asked Naruto after thinking about everything his sensei just told him, wanting to know exactly what was going to happen when the orb of crystal and him fused

"Yes and no Naruto-kun, I can assure you that the process itself won't be a danger to you, even with the soul in the Lacrima, but I can also tell you that you will probably have to meet with Raijin himself, after all that was the reason that I placed his soul in Lacrima in the first place" answered Zeref, wondering how the meeting between his apprentice and the mighty dragon was going to be. Of course after hearing that Naruto got a little nervous since he would be meeting a dragon of all beings, but he didn't have anything to lose at this point, so it was like that that the young blonde asked his sensei to start the procedure

"Very well then, and don't worry, this is not going to be as painful as the last time we did something like this" assured Zeref just before the magic circle once again sprang into life.

Naruto just laid there in his back, watching how his sensei brought the sphere of power close to his chest and another hand to his forehead. That was the last thing the young blonde saw before he passed out completely; his last thought was in how this time there was no pain.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

Naruto woke up with one hell of a headache, feeling the rocks that were in the floor too annoying for his like

'Wait... rocks?'

That thought made Naruto jump out in surprise and start looking at his surroundings, and it only took a look for him to realize that this place was not the training room he was just a second ago. This place looked like a freaking wasteland, the ground was full of little rocks and you could see some dead trees here and there, and if you looked up you could see the white moon in a completely black sky, with not even one start up there.

Not knowing what to do, the young soon to be dragonslayer decided to just walk and see if there was any clue of where he was, after all the last thing he remember was being in the training room while Zeref started fusing the Dragon Lacrima with his body.

After a few minutes of walking Naruto was getting more annoyed that anything, why?, simple, he could swear he had passed the same damn tree like five times already, and that was making him a little mad. By the sixth time the young blonde was more than ready to punch the stupid street, just to see if his training had paid off

However before Naruto could have his righteous revenge upon the unfortunate dead tree he was stopped by something that sounded like wings flapping, and when the young blonde turned around he saw something big, big enough that his shadow covered Naruto completely just before the strange being landed a few meters away from the blonde, lifting some dust that was easly swept away by another flapping of the mighty creature's wings.

Now Naruto had a good look of the creature and he was more than awed by the magnificent of this being. Said being was now standing proudly in front of Naruto, its four paws holding its massive body easily. This being was huge, easily as tall as the Kyubi himself or even a little taller, not that Naruto knew that though. It had a reptilian body that was grayish blue in color and its mouth was slightly open, showing a set of sharp teeth that would destroy everything that they touched. Its eyes were completely yellow and on top of its head were a set of yellow spines that reached to the end of its neck, and after that you could see a big patch of white hair that covered the majority of this being upper body. At the end of each of his four paws where powerful black claws that looked as deadly as the fangs it had in its mouth, at its back you could see its two great winds completely extended and at the end of its body you could find a big tail that also had a little bit of white hair and that ended up in a yellow point that looked like a trident.

The young blonde could not even move because of the presence of this thing. Naruto could even feel the power it had and he has to say, he was more scared he had ever been in his life. The creature's head went down until it was at the same level with Naruto and the young blonde could feel its eyes examining him, studying him, seeing if he was worth of something, which he hoped he was. After a few minutes of nothing happening the young blonde was more than surprise when it was this being the one that talked first, his powerful voice resonating everywhere

**"So you are the human who'll use my power"** said the powerful creature, making Naruto awed and scared face go to one of confusion, until his mind kicked in, remembering who he was supposed to meet and by just looking at the creature if front of him it was not a hard job to figure out who he was

"You are Raijin, the Dragon King of Lightning" Said Naruto, trying his best to keep all of his fear out of both his voice and expression

**"Correct little human, my name is Raijin and that is my title... although I guess I should say it was my title since I'm already dead after all"** confirmed the powerful dragon

"Do you hate my sensei for killing you?" asked Naruto out the blue, and he kicked himself mentally for allowing his curiosity to get the better of him, after all he didn't want to upset someone that could eat him

**"If you mean Zeref, then no, there is no reason for me to hate him, it was me the one that accepted his challenge after all, my dead it's my own fault for losing to a human, not to the human that bested me... although I'm both surprised and happy to see that he accepted my dying request"** said Raijin, making Naruto release an air he didn't know he was holding, completely relieved that this dragon didn't hold any grudges toward his sensei

"He told me that your last wish was for you to meet the one who will use your magic" said Naruto, a little more calm this time

**"Indeed, I wanted to know the one that would continue using my powers even after my death" **the dragon confirmed, his head then coking to the side a little bit **"What is your name little human?"**

"My name is Naruto. Nice to meet you Raijin-san" answered the young blonde with a friendly smile on his face, getting a more predatory smile from Raijin, or at least that what it was in the young blonde's opinion

**"Naruto eh... hm, so my power is going to be passed to a little fish cake, what a waste"** joked Raijin, making Naruto to get a tick mark and his eyes to twitch a little bit

"It means maelstrom, not fishcake" Said Naruto now feeling more annoyance than fear from this dragon king

"Whatever you say little fish cake" said Raijin, getting a growl from Naruto, although that just made the great dragon to release a booming laugh that caught Naruto off guard

**"You should relax more little human, you're too stiff for my like but I guess you'll do well, after all I can't sense any strong negative emotion coming from you, and if you're being trained my Zeref himself then... yes, I'm sure you'll do more than well with my powers"** said Raijin a little more serious at the end, getting a happy expression from Naruto that transformed into one of surprise really fast

"Wait, you can sense my emotions?" asked a shocked Naruto, not knowing that dragons could do that at all

**"Of course I can human, that is an old art we dragon know, but even that cannot tell me everything so I want to know, what will you do once you have learned everything about my powers?"** asked Raijin, his yellow eyes looking into Naruto's own blue, wanting to see if the young blonde would tell the true or not. In reality Raijin already knew about Naruto's life and resolutions, he knew it since the moment the Dragon Lacrima fused with the young blonde, but he wanted to hear it from said human's mouth

Meanwhile Naruto was thinking about this question hard in his mind. What was his objective? Was it to get strong? But for what? What could he do with power? He knew he didn't want it to show it to his family since at this point he could not care less about what they think of him. Was it to protect the village? No, that was not it, he does not owe the village of Konoha anything so why?

The answer came like a ton of bricks in his head; he remembered what Zeref had told him yesterday, about how bonds where the true source of strength and that you should always protect them. Naruto who's has been feeling nothing but loneliness since he was a child until Zeref came wanted nothing but to never feel that again, and for that he would protect those bonds even with his own life, he would protect the people he truly cared about, even if right now the only one in that category was Zeref he hoped that he could make more of those bonds, so that he never had to feel truly alone never again

"I... I want to protect those that I really care about, those whose bond to me make me stronger, those that I can call friends... those that i can call a family" confessed Naruto, passion and determination in both his voice and eyes

**"I see... that's a good answer little human, just make sure to never forget that, after all power can corrupt even the most pure of all souls"** said Raijin just before flapping his wings, raising a lot of wind and Naruto himself of the ground. The young blonde thought he was going to hit the rocky floor, but instead he found himself falling into nothingness, the floor and everything in it having disappeared a long time ago.

**"Good luck little human, you're going to need it"** were the last ominous word Naruto heard the powerful dragon said

And then everything went black

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

While of that happened, in the real world you would find a passed out Naruto and a meditating Zeref just where we left them. The dark mage was waiting for his apprentice to end his little soul conversation with Raijin, knowing that said conversation was needed for both the human and the dragon

Zeref had always wondered where the other four dragons where, after all he had spent a good part of his life here in the Elemental Nation searching for them after finding Raijin by a mere accident. In reality he had heard rumors about some powerful monster that resided in _**Oni no Kuni (Demon country**_) so he went there to investigate and ended up in a really big cave in which he found the powerful dragon

He of course was not going to let the chance slip away, so he asked the powerful beast to give him a part of his power so that when he met with Naruto he would have a powerful magic to teach him. Sadly the dragon had denied the request, saying that he would not mess with humans, let alone give them power, so Zeref had to go with plan B and challenge the old lizard to a duel

Raijin was a tough opponent he had to admit that, but he still was not at the same level of someone like Acnologia, so Zeref was able to defeat him and after sealing a part of his power in the Lacrima he sealed the soul of the dragon himself in it, planning to at least fulfill the dragon's last wish of knowing who was going to use his magic.

After that Zeref went to search for the other four dragons, hoping that they would lend him their powers without having to get into a death fight. Sadly for him he was not able to find any of them, so in the end he was just going to do what he could with what he had, which was a lot if you ask him, after all he had to say that _**Kaminari no Metsuryū Mahō (Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic)**_ was a pretty powerful lost magic and that in a world where a good part of its technique were based in the elements, being completely immune to one of them was a damn good advantage.

"Guhh, my head..." groaned someone, getting Zeref's attention. Of course the one that just groaned what none other than Naruto himself, who was just getting up from his mental conversation with Raijin

"How do you feel Naruto-kun?" asked softly Zeref, who decided to ask later for details about Naruto's conversation with Raijin

Naruto did not answer though; he just looked at his sensei with a smirk on his face just before lifting his right arm and making a fist. Naruto concentrated his magic and gave it form in his mind, the form of a lightning, which he actually found natural for him. And just before Zeref's eyes Naruto's arm started to release static until it was covered completely in electricity

"I think I'm good, sensei"

That day, a dragon slayer was born

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**And that's if for now. Yes, one of Naruto's magic style will be the good old dragon slayer magic, I know it might be a little cliché, but the advantage of that magic in the Elemental Nation will give Naruto an edge he's going to need, and don't forget he WILL learn another style of magic, after all what is the point of having someone like Zeref as Naruto's teacher if I don't give him any dark magic?**

**For those that want to reach to the part when Naruto's family realizes what they have done, don't worry that chapter in coming soon.**

**I want to say I'm sorry for the grammar mistakes this ff has, my english is a little rusted and I don't have a beta so you can expect some error here and there, although I'll try to fix them before posting each chapter. And of course thanks to everyone that favorite, followed and reviewed this story, you guys are the real MVP!**


	4. One Step Forward and a Meeting

Naruto of Chaos

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

"**Acnologia**" Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama**' Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

"_**Rasengan**_" Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail in any source of way, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Hiro Mashima.**

**AN: Last Update: 24/3/2015**

**Chapter 3**

**One Step Forward and a Meeting**

_Konohagakure no Sato, 12 years after the Kyuubi attack_

The Ninja Academy. It was this place where young kids entered and after three years they could finally become ninjas of the village. It was this place that saw the birth of the strongest team known as the _**Densetsu no Sannin (Great Three Ninjas)**_ and right now a special group of students were having their first month of class

What makes this group so special? The answer was simply. It was the fact that the majority of the young ninjas in training were the heirs of the many clans that Konoha has. These young soon to be ninjas were basically the future of the village and it was the Ninja Academy where they would start their first step towards being proud shinobi and kunoichi of the leaf.

One of these youngsters was a young blonde, blue eyed boy with two sets of whiskers marks in his cheeks. Said blonde was right now looking out of the window from his seat right at the back of the class, thinking of how he could be doing real training instead of hearing about the history of the village.

This boy was none other than Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, our hero, and right now said hero was, to put it simply, bored. He knew that the Ninja Academy standards weren't that high, but with just three weeks of class he could already predict that the next three years were not going to be any better, after all the only thing they have been doing in class was speak of the Shodaime and how awesome he was

'We get it, he was a godly Shinobi, there is no need to tell us that again... and again' Thought the young dragon slayer while releasing an exasperated sigh, annoyed that his normal training with Zeref had to be cut in half because of this lectures.

Before the academy even started one of Naruto's biggest concern was that his parents would forget to register him and it was not until his sensei told him that he was registered since birth thanks to the village laws that he actually calmed himself down.

The young blonde had of course spoken with his sensei about how they were going to adjust his training schedule with the Academy's one. Zeref had just told them that he would be going to the Academy every day and then he would come to the training room and train for the rest of the day, effectively cutting his normal training time in half every day, something that irked Naruto a lot, but sadly there was nothing he could do.

Thinking about his lost training time made Naruto remember about the changes that Zeref made to his normal training regime. It was not that big, just that some of the days were changed to nothing but magical training with his _**Kaminari no Metsuryū Mahō (Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic)**_, and Zeref had made him use said magic in their spars, although even with that he still couldn't put a good fight against his sensei and Zeref had not even used magic in spars.

His sensei had told him that, since he was a 2do generation dragon slayer, which means that he didn't have a dragon to train with, he would have to create his own spells, something that preoccupied the young blonde in the end, but he actually found that it was not that hard, like he could easily picture the different techniques in his mind, he just had to learn how to use them in real life. Zeref had told him that this was probably a side-effect of having Raijin's soul inside of him and that he could probably unlock more spells in his mind if he trained harder, but that it was up to him to practice and master them. Combine that with Zeref's personal advice since he had seen a lot of dragons and dragon slayer and you could say that Naruto's magical development was going great.

The young apprentice of Zeref was taken out of his thoughts by the sound of a sigh to his right, which made the young blonde turn to his right to see who was that, he guessed, was probably as bored as him, and he had to say he was not surprised to see who was, after all she always seated herself in this same spot besides him

This girl had black hair that was pulled into a ponytail that barely reached the start of her back and she also had two bangs framing her face. She had black eyes and pale skin. She was wearing a simple blue shirt that had her clan's symbol on the back of it, and she was also wearing some white shorts and a pair of blue sandals. This girl was none other than Uchiha Sasuki, daughter of the head of the Uchiha Clan and little sister of the prodigy known as Uchiha Itachi, and just like our young hero she was bored as hell

The young Uchiha of course knew, just like Naruto, that the standards of the Academy had dropped after the third ninja war since her brother had told her about it, but in her opinion this was getting ridiculous.

'Maybe if he talked about Uchiha Madara this would at least be a little interesting, but the only thing the instructor talked about has been Hashirama Senju and his _**Mokuton (Wood Release)**_' thought the young Uchiha, more than tired of this endless talking about the Shodaime. It was really no surprise that she was more interested in Uchiha Madara than Senju Hashirama, after all the man has been her idol since she could remember. Sure, he was considered a traitor to the village, but no one could denied that he still is considered the strongest Uchiha, and power like that was something that Uchiha Sasuki wanted to achieve more than anything

Now if only she managed to become that strong without the hole exiled from the village and fighting the Hokage thing that Madara was famous for.

The young black haired girl was taken out of her thoughts by the feeling of someone watching her from her left, but when she turned the only thing she saw was the young blonde that always sat on that spot reading a scroll, completely ignoring the lesson of the Chunin instructor.

Sasuki herself had to admit that she had never spoke to the first son of the Namikaze-Uzumaki clan, the reason for that was actually quite simple tough: making friends was not her strong part, in fact from all the other kids in this class the only one she talked to was Mito, and that's just because the two of them have been friends and kind of rivals since she could remember, which was because the strong friendship her mother Mikoto and Mito's mother had.

The reason for her always sitting here was simply because there were no other spots the first day of class so she had to sit in the last spot which was of course the one she's sitting next to the right of young Naruto and after that day she actually kept sitting there even though there were other free spots just because, unlike the majority of the other student, Naruto was pretty quiet and did not speak to her in any way, something that Sasuki actually liked since she came to this place to prepare herself to be a Kunoichi, not to make friends.

So it was with nothing but a raised brow that the young Uchiha looked at the young blonde, a little curious about what he was reading, but hardly enough to ask, so she just simply went to pay attention once again to the class, even though in her opinion this was a waste of time

Meanwhile the young apprentice of Zeref had already forgotten about the lesson completely and he was now reading a scroll about the art of _**Fuuinjutsu (Sealing Techniques)**_, something that Naruto actually found that he was quite interested about. He guessed that it was probably because of his Uzumaki blood, since said clan was famous for their incredible seals, and that the art itself was perfect for someone like him whose training made him able to focus easily in such a complex art.

Yes, the lives for this boys and girls in the academy was just starting, something that actually pissed more than one student.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

'Thank Kami' were the thoughts of many students that are leaving the academy since the class was finally over

One of these students was Naruto himself, who was more than happy to end that boring torture they call lessons and finally go to do some real training with his sensei. The young blonde started walking towards the place where the magical circle was, but he was not going to the Hokage Monument this time though.

Naruto entered one of the residential districts of the village after walking for a while, and after more minutes of walking he entered into an abandoned alley and after making sure no one was watching him he used _**Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique)**_ to make himself look like a normal middle age man with brown hair, brown eyes and a little goatee.

After that Naruto went out of the alley and went to a little apartment that was part of a building that had a more apartments. He took out some keys and opened the door, showing a simple apartment that had nothing but a little kitchen, a table, a door that lead to a bathroom and at the far end a little bedroom with nothing but a bed. The young blonde released the jutsu and without hesitation he just went to the end of the bedroom and there he just pressed his hand against the wooden wall in which as soon as he did it a magical circle actually appeared, making Naruto smile a little bit.

This apartment was actually one of the gifts Zeref had given to him a few weeks before starting the academy. Zeref had given Naruto this little apartment for two reasons, one because it was more close to the academy which would help Naruto, and the second reason was simply because Zeref wanted to take Naruto out of his family's house, since staying there might cause problems in the future. The dark mage had to admit he was a little preoccupied about someone noticing that the young blonde was not living at his family's house, but it had been more than a month and nothing had happened so Zeref had to admit that, just like Naruto had said before, no one was waiting for him at that house.

The other gift he got was very simple in comparison, but it was something he always had on, it was Zeref's own necklace. The dark mage had just told him that is was a good luck charm, but for Naruto this was more than just that, after all he was a boy that never got any birthday present since he could remember, so this necklace meant a lot for him. Naruto could still remember how he actually cried a little bit just before giving Zeref a really big hug, something that the dark lord has responded with an awkward pat in his back, showing how weird this situation was for him. That day though was the moment Naruto decided that Zeref was truly like a father to him.

Going back to the present the young dragon slayer pushed a little of his magic towards the magical circle making it shine with a purple light just before the young blonde disappeared in a black flash, a smile present in his face all the time.

After all training with his sensei, no, his father was his favorite part of the day

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Konohagakure no Sato, one month later_

Sasuki Uchiha was one frustrated girl. Why you may ask? Because her Onii-sama had promised her that he would help her with her training with kunai, shuriken and _**Katon Jutsu (Fire Style Techniques)**_, but he had gotten a mission at the last moment, making him unable to help her, something that pissed her off to no end

Don't misunderstand, Sasuki knew that her brother had a lot of responsibilities as a member of ANBU, but still this has been the third time he had cancelled their training so it was normal for her to feel frustrated as this.

It was because of that reason that you could find the young Uchiha walking toward a training ground in which she could practice alone on a Sunday, a scowl present on her face. Of course she could have gone to any of the training ground that her clan had, but today she really just wanted to burn something a little bit and she decided that it was better to do it alone where no one would watch her unleashing her fury, so it was with that mentality that she went to a training ground which she knew was empty almost all the time since no one used it.

So it was really surprising to the young black haired girl when she actually found someone in this place, doing what it looked like Taijutsu training. It only took a moment for Sasuki to figure out who was the one in the training ground; after all that hair color combined with those black clothes could only belong to one person in her opinion

'Since when Namikaze trained in this place?' though Sasuki, whose curiosity towards Naruto's training was going as high as it can be. Her first thought was of just leaving and finding another training ground, but then an idea came to her mind. This was the perfect opportunity to not only get some info on someone that was on her class, but it could also be a good practice at staying silent and gather information, something that her Onii-sama had told her it was important for ANBU, so with that in mind the young Uchiha got herself into a tree that was inside the training ground but far enough that in her opinion the blonde Namikaze would not notice her and with her eyes focused on said boy she just watched

She watched as the blonde did some moves of a fighting style she had never seen in her life just before start practicing throwing kunai and shuriken at the bark of a tree, and the young Uchiha found herself actually a little impressed by the skills the blonde had with those weapons. Of course he was not at the level of her Onii-sama in her opinion, but he was definitely better than the majority of the other student at the academy.

That thought brought a frown to Sasuki's face, after all she could remember that Namikaze's ability with kunai and shuriken were not really great in the academy's tests, so how is it that now he was so good at it when in the last shuriken lesson, which was a week ago, he just managed to nail half of the shuriken at the training dummy? Sasuki found her curiosity towards the blond boy increasing with every minute.

It was after a few minutes of practicing with the normal ninja tools that Naruto went to the middle of the training ground and started meditating, something that confused Sasuki a lot, after all she knew about the art of meditation, but she didn't knew that someone of her age already knew how to do it. The young Uchiha was just about to leave to her house to ponder the mystery that Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto was, maybe even ask Mito about it, since she was his sister, but a calm and monotonous voice stopped her right on her tracks

"Spying is rude, you know?" those words made the young Uchiha turn around just to see that the young apprentice of Zeref was still in the middle of the training ground, although his eyes were open and they were looking right at the spot in which she was hiding, making Sasuki's eyes open wide in surprise, after all she tough she had hidden herself perfectly, so how did Namikaze find her?

The young Uchiha girl had to options at that point, she could both run away and act like this never happened or she could confront the blonde Uzumaki-Namikaze boy and see if she could get any information.

It took less of a second for her to decide

Naruto had his gaze completely focused on Sasuki since the moment she stepped down from the tree until she got just in front of him, her arms were crossed over her chest and a scowl was still present on her face

"What do you want Uchiha?" asked Naruto in the same voice from before after standing up, his eyes looking directly at Sasuki's with a bored gaze, something that annoyed Sasuki a little bit

"What were you doing?" asked Sasuki, ignoring Naruto's question completely, something that just made Naruto brow to rise a little bit in interest before answering

"Training"

"And since when were you so good at throwing things?" asked Sasuki a little forcefully, wanted to get to the bottom of this fast

"That's none of your concern Uchiha, you should just leave already" answered Naruto, annoyed about Sasuki, but he didn't show it. Meanwhile the young Uchiha was growing impatience, she wanted to know exactly how strong was this guy since apparently the skills he showed in the academy were fake, after all no one gets that good and just a week, so she got to the conclusion that, for some reason this guy was hiding his real skills, but why though? Sasuki was going to find out tough, and after a few second she thought of a way to see if her theory was true

"Fight me" said Sasuki with a glare directed at Naruto, although this just got another raiser brow from the blond

"Excuse me?"

"Your heard me, fight me" said Sasuki with more steel in her voice. Her plan was actually simple, to fight him and see exactly how strong he was just to see if he was really holding back at the academy, after all the student have already spared once there and if she remembered correctly Naruto had not done it really good against Kiba Inuzuka when they fought

While Sasuki was expecting an answer, Naruto was just about to just say no, but a thought stopped the blond in his tracks. 'This might be a good chance to test exactly how strong I am' thought Naruto, who wanted to test himself with someone else than Zeref, after all sparring with him will always end in the same result: a calm Zeref and a beaten Naruto. And since he could not show his real strength in the academy because his sensei had made it a task for him to stay under the radar in the academy and not showing off, which meant that he had to control his own skills and act like a regular student, not too good but not too bad neither. When he asked Zeref about why he had to do this he just told him that control is a tool that must be used at all times, and that deception was a ninja's number one weapon, so Naruto had no other choice but to accept that and control himself at the academy, which meant that right now he finally had an opportunity to test himself a little bit.

"Alright" answered the young blonde, getting a surprised expression from the Uchiha, before it turned into a little smirk with obvious confidence in her eyes, after all even if she thought that Naruto was stronger that what he showed in the academy, there was still no way he was stronger than her, and after she beats him she could ask all the question she wanted

"No jutsu or weapons, just taijutsu, understood?" confirmed Naruto, getting a nod of acceptance from Sasuki, who was now standing a little far away from Naruto and had already entered in her clan fighting style, which if Naruto remembered right is was called the Interceptor Fist, that was focused around predicting and countering your opponent's movements thanks to the Uchihas Kekkei Genkai, the _**Sharingan (Copy-Wheel Eye)**_. But, if Naruto guess was right, Sasuki had not awakened her Sharingan, which meant her fighting style would be incomplete

"In that case, Hajime!" said Naruto just before entering in his own taijutsu style, one that was centered in speed and precision. This style is one of the many that Zeref showed him, and it was used for dodging and evading attacks and hitting your enemy just at the right time, which combined with Naruto's natural speed which could go higher if he used magic made it an incredible force.

The young blonde decided to mess with Sasuki a little bit tough, as a form of payback for spying on him, even though he knew she was here from the beginning. So he just stayed there, knowing that Sasuki would not attack first since that was not the Uchihas fighting style.

After a few minutes of nothing but staring, which got Sasuki pretty mad if her glare towards Naruto was any sign to go by, the young Uchiha decided to just attack herself in the stupid blond was not going to move, so she ran at him with what Naruto guessed was probably Genin like speed, which was surprising in his opinion since they were just starting the academy, but still for Naruto she was moving really slow so when Sasuki finally reached him and aimed a right fist at his face Naruto easily evaded it by side-stepping to the left, but the young Uchiha retaliated with a round-house kick aimed once again to his head, which he dodged by moving backwards faster than the kick

This got a growl from Sasuki who tried her luck again with another punch, only this time after dodging Naruto grabbed Sasuki's wrist with enough strength that the Uchiha girl could not get free, so she went for another fist, but the young apprentice of Zeref grabbed her other wrist too, and before she could even do anything she just pushed away from him and then he widened the distance between them a little by jumping backwards.

This continued for a little more than ten minutes, in which Sasuki would try to hit Naruto and the young blonde would just either dodge or block without attacking, not even once even though he had more than one opportunity for it, which was making Satsuki more angrier at every second.

After 15 minutes of 'sparing' the young blonde decided to put an end to it so when the next punch from Sasuki came he once again grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm in her back to fast for her to see, then he used his legs and pushed Sasuki making her fall face first into the ground

"Do you yield?" asked Naruto twisting Sasuki arm a little more to prove her that this little fight was more than over. Sasuki murmured something under her breath which Naruto didn't hear really well

"Was was that?"

"I said that a yield, now get off me you baka!" yelled Sasuki, more than angry for being bested so easily by someone of her age. Said someone accepted that and released Sasuki from his grip before standing and offering the young girl a hand to help her, which she just slapped away before actually storming out of the training ground with a heavy scowl on her face and, and if Naruto heard her right her last words before leaving sounded like "This is not over". Naruto had a confused expression in his face all time though, his confusion getting to his mouth in a single comment

"Was it something I said?" let it be known that Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto was not the best when working with people

He blamed that to his sensei though

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Konohagakure no Sato, 2 years after_

It has been 2 years since the academy started for Naruto, and just like every Sunday he found himself in the same spot, which was of course on top of certain Uchiha princess

No, not like that!

Ever since they little fight two years ago Sasuki Uchiha made it a personal mission to challenge Naruto to a spar every Sunday at the same exact training ground. Naruto had considered changing place, but he didn't found any reason for it since those little spars were a good workout in Naruto's opinion, and even Zeref himself had said that it was a good opportunity for Naruto to train with someone else besides him, so the young blonde had accepted the spar every time Sasuki challenge him

And of course she had yet to win one

So it was not surprise that we can find Naruto, now fifteen years old, on top of Sasuki's back, her arm once again twisted in her back and a frustrated expression in her cute face

"Do you yield?" asked Naruto, a little of humor in his voice, after all this was his favorite way of ending the spars

It was also the way Sasuki hated more

"Yes you baka, now get off me before I burn you" threatened half-heartedly Sasuki before releasing an annoyed sigh.

The young blond was fast to comply, and just like the first time they spared he offered his hand to help her get up, only this time she actually accepted with the smallest of smiles appearing on her lips.

Both her and Naruto had changed a lot in the last two years. For example the apprentice of Zeref had changes his outfit completely, he now wears a sleeveless black shirt with a black jacket that has white lining along the edges, said jacket had long sleeves and was being connected at the top with a button, and falling slightly short of waist-length, making it possible to see his black shirt. At the back of said jacket there was the same symbol that his old clothes had: the head of a dragon in silver color. Naruto also had some black ANBU pants with his Kunai holder in his right leg and a pair of black ninja sandals. He also wears black fingerless gloves and the necklace Zeref have him was proudly in his neck and over his jacket.

Not only his clothes changed though, his golden blond hair was now tamer and it reached his shoulders, and his whisker marks had started to fade away, something that started happening a year ago

The same day he started his training in _**Yami no Mahō (Darkness Magic)**_

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

One year ago, Zeref's Training Place

"Seriously?" asked an excited yet nervous Naruto at his father figure, getting a nod from said dark mage

"Yes Naruto-kun, today we'll start your training in _**Yami no Mahō (Darkness Magic)**_" confirmed Zeref, getting Naruto's eyes to get full with excitement at finally learning the magic that his sensei uses, but he instantly went to have a serious face as soon as he saw that Zeref was even more serious than normal, which meant that whatever he was going to say, it was really important

"First I'm going to explain exactly what you're going to learn Naruto-kun. What I'm going to teach you is _**Yami no Mahō (Darkness Magic)**_ in its purest form, which means Naruto-kun that you are going to learn how to use the darkness you have in your heart at its full capacity" explained Zeref, and he then used his hand to stop Naruto from speaking, since he knew the young blonde would probably say something.

"You have to understand Naruto-kun that every single human being has darkness in his or her heart, no matter who they are or what life they had. What I'm going to teach Naruto-kun is how to use your magic to give form to that darkness, to use it as you see fit without letting it to control you Naruto-kun. You could say that there are three kind of people in this world Naruto-kun, those that denied their own darkness, those that let their own darkness to control them, and those that control said darkness, those that accept they have it but they don't let it control them, for you to learn this form of magic Naruto-kun you must become that type of person or you won't learn anything"

"_**Yami no Mahō (Darkness Magic)**_ is one of the magic that depends more heavily in your feelings Naruto-kun, that's why I have been teaching you how to control them, since with this kind of magic everything is about intent. You must not only give form to your darkness with magic Naruto-kun, you must also give it a purpose in your mind or else it won't work, which means that is a style with endless possibilities, it just depends on how you use it" said Zeref, seeing how his words made Naruto look at the ground with a thoughtful look in his face

"Do you think you're ready to learn Naruto-kun?" asks Zeref, his black eyes focusing in nothing but his apprentice. He had to admit that teaching _**Yami no Mahō (Darkness Magic)**_ to someone of Naruto's age could be quite dangerous since it meant opening a real Pandora's Box, but Zeref trusted in his apprentice's inner strength and he knew that Naruto was more than ready for it, so he was not surprised when Naruto looked at him, determination burning in his eyes and just gave him a simple yet firm nod

And with that the training once again begun

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

Naruto had to admit that learning how to use _**Yami no Mahō (Darkness Magic)**_ had to be the hardest thing he had ever done. It has been a year already and even with Zeref as his sensei he still had problems with using the most simple of spells since they always were too unstable or he would just simply get too tired after doing just one of them. When he asked his sensei about what he was doing wrong he just told him that it was all because of the lack of practice, but Naruto felt that his sensei was hiding something from him.

On the other hand his training with his _**Kaminari no Metsuryū Mahō (Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic)**_ was going more than great since his control over it has increased a lot and he could now used a lot of spells without getting tired, something that Zeref had say was in part thanks to how big his magical contained and tenketsu point had become because of the training, although he had yet to learn any of the _**Metsuryū Ōgi (Dragon Slayer's Secret Art)**_ though

The young blonde was taken out of his thoughts by Sasuki waving her hand in front of his face, which made Naruto's attention go from his training to his Uchiha companion and he had to admit that Sasuki was becoming quite the beauty. She had let her raven black hair loose since last year and it reached to her middle back now, with two bangs framing her quite beautiful face. She had changed her outfit just like him; she now wears a gray high-collared short-sleeved shirt with a zipper in its front that showed her growing b-cup breasts, she also has some blue wrist warmers. She was wearing ANBU pants just like him and a pair of blue shinobi's sandals

"You were spacing out there" said Sasuki in a matter of a fact tone, looking at his sparring partner with a raised brow

"Just thinking about some stuff, you don't have to worry"

"I wasn't"

"If you say so" said Naruto before sitting in the ground and started meditating, which he found really relaxing after sparing, meanwhile Sasuki just stood there, looking at Naruto before releasing a sigh and going to a tree in which she could rest under its shadows. The two soon to be ninja's just stayed there in a peaceful silence, but of course everything has to come to an end at some point

"We are graduating soon" said Sasuki, her gaze once again in her blonde friend. Yes, friend, she never thought she would ever call this guy that, but after two years on sparring every Sunday and actually talking to him after that she actually found he was not that bad of a guy, although it annoyed her that he acted so calm just like her Onii-sama, and she started liking his presence even more after that incident

What happened was actually simple, a year ago during their normal training routine, meaning Naruto beating her easily, she twisted her ankle really bad to the point she could not really move without feeling a lot of pain, so Naruto being the gentleman he was decided to actually carry her to her house like a freaking princess, which found protest from the Uchiha beauty who had a blush during the entire trip, but it wasn't like she could really do anything, so after a few minutes they both finally reached to her house and Naruto helped her to get inside and when he asked about the other members of her family she just told him that she was going to be alone for the day and that he should just leave

But of course he didn't, saying that someone that's hurt should not be alone like this so he decided to actually stay and take care of her, which got another blush and more protest from the young Uchiha but Naruto would have none of that, so after treating her injury as best as he could he actually cooked her lunch and dinner and stayed in the house until it was really late just to make sure that she didn't do anything stupid while injured.

At the end of the day she simply asked why was he doing all of this for her, and his answer had made her brain stop for a whole minute just there

"Thats what friends are for, aren't they?"

And since that day Sasuki actually found herself waiting for Sunday to spar and then speak to him, of course she still saw him and seated herself beside him, but they rarely talked at all in the academy, although they did ate lunch together every day

Well more like Naruto ate in the roof alone and after Sasuki found him she just stayed there and ate with him in a peaceful silence

"Yeah... just a few month more of torture and we are all set to go" said Naruto, who was still meditating. This answer actually another little smile to Sasuki's face just before it became a scowl

"Do you think we are going to be put in the same team?" asked Sasuki out of nowhere, and even though she tried to hide it Naruto could detect a little of hope in her voice, which didn't surprise him at all since he too would like to be in the same team with her and with luck enough it would be her, Nara Shikamaru and Naruto himself.

Why Shikamaru you may ask? well a couple of month ago our blond hero actually found himself playing a game of Shogi with Shikamaru during lunch when the lazy member of the Nara clan decided to use the roof as a place to view the clouds. After that game, which Shikamaru won, the two of them would actually play during lunch, in which sometimes Akimichi Choji stayed too, and the young blonde found himself impressed by Shikamaru's strategic abilities, so he really would like to be in the same team as him, and if you added someone he knew like Sasuki then he would be in a team he could easily work with

"I don't know... anything could happen, although I do hope that happens tough" answered Naruto, getting a nod and another smile from Sasuki, happy that her friend wanted to be in the same team as her

"If that happen just make sure to not drag me down, Naruto" joked Sasuki with a smirk, which got Naruto to open his eyes and to look at her with a bored gaze

"Hmm interesting... you took the words right out of my mouth" answered back Naruto, who found himself moving his face to dodge some kunai that Sasuki just decided to throw at him, a tick mark present of her forehead

Yes, it was definitely quite a friendship

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

It was once again one of those Sundays in which Naruto had to go to the now dubbed training room because of something Zeref wanted to tell him, so that was the reason you could found Naruto walking in the hallway that connected the rooms this place had to the training room.

Of course his sudden goodbye had raised questions from Sasuki, questions that Naruto found himself lying to since he could not reveal this place. More than once Sasuki has asked about how Naruto had gotten so strong since she knew that, according to Mito, he didn't train with his family. Naruto had just told her that he had a really good sensei and always tried to change the subject every time, so Sasuki stopped asking about it after a while, but she was intended to find out though so she had told him that when she finally defeated him in a fight he would have to tell her anything, something that Naruto accepted just to make her stop asking about it.

The young dragon slayer finally reached the training room and, just as usual he found his sensei meditating in the middle of it, so he just stayed there, waiting for his sensei to tell him the reason for him to called him on a Sunday, since every time that happened it was for something big

After some minutes Zeref stopped meditating and he stood, looking at his Naruto with his normal emotionless gaze before speaking

"Today Naruto-kun you will do the final step in your training in _**Yami no Mahō (Darkness Magic)**_" said Zeref, getting a raised brow from his student

"What do you mean by that sensei? And what is this final step?" asked Naruto, curiosity heavy in his voice

"Naruto-kun, there is something you must do before you can truly use _**Yami no Mahō (Darkness Magic)**_ properly, and before you ask the reason I didn't tell you about it at the beginning was simply because you were not ready for it, but I wanted you to understand how _**Yami no Mahō (Darkness Magic) **_worked, so I started teaching you about it before. That's the reason about why you can't use _**Yami no Mahō (Darkness Magic)**_ properly, but today we will correct that" said Zeref, making his apprentice eyes to go a little wide in understanding before speaking in a calm voice just like his father figure

"What do I have to do?"

"You are going to face your own darkness Naruto-kun, thats the only way for you to be able to use _**Yami no Mahō (Darkness Magic)**_"

"What do you mean by that?" asked a confused Naruto, wondering what 'facing your darkness' meant.

"You'll understand once we start, but this is a test you must do on your own, and I can't guarantee you safety Naruto-kun, so I must ask, are you sure you're ready to take this step? Once it begins there is no going back" said Zeref, his black eyes looking at Naruto's blue ones searching for any doubt he may have, but he found none, so when Naruto told him that he was ready Zeref had no objections and proceed to start the test

Just like the other times a magical circle in the ground activated itself, but this time something weird happened, and that was that Zeref made something appeared on his hand. The young blonde had barely enough time to reconfigure said thing as a katana just before said sword was plunger right in his chest, and he was surprised when he actually felt no pain, but he could feel getting weaker by the second.

The last thing Naruto saw was Zeref's black eyes before he muttered something that barely catches Naruto's ears

"Good luck"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

While Naruto was getting ready to face his biggest test to date, another man was walking through the streets of the Clan District of the village, walking toward a specific house with an important task that in his opinion could affect Konoha a lot

That thought made the man chuckle a little bit, after all some years in the past his love for this village went downhill, and he was sure that if it wasn't because of the meeting with that... monster, he would have probably ended up becoming a traitor to the village, but now he was doing stuff for the good of the village. Yes, quite the irony

The thought of that meeting though was more than enough to bring fear to his eyes and to make his already pale face even more pale, after he had never been more scared in his whole life, not even the third ninja war brought so much anguish so him

That just showed how terrible that being was, so he truly didn't want to meet him again in his life. Too bad fate likes to screw with people so much.

This black haired man was taken out of his thoughts when he finally reached the house he was looking for. Since it was already late at night he knew that both the man and women he wanted to talk to were already in the house, probably just finishing dinner or something, so he just decided to touch the doorbell and see who will open the door

He was not surprised at all when a man with spiky blond hair and blue eyes opened the door, and the man could see that just behind this man was a woman with long red hair and violet eyes

'Perfect' thought the black haired man, after all his objective here was something that needed the attention of both the Hokage and his wife and there was no way he would leave before finishing his task

"What are you doing here..."

Which was of course about certain blond haired mage

"...Orochimaru?"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, in an unknown place_

Shock, surprise, confusion, lost for words. Any of those terms could be used right now to describe how Naruto felt right now

The reason for that was really simple. It was not the fact that he found himself in a really weird stadium in Kami knows where, no, it was because of the person that was standing in front of him, a twisted smirk in his face

Why would this person made Naruto feel this way? Well the reason for that was simply because this guy could only be described as a clone of Naruto himself. The only difference was that his clothes were the completely opposite in color than Naruto, and his eyes were a bright yellow completely different of Naruto blue ones. There was also the aura that surrounded this guy since Naruto could feel nothing but ill intent from him.

"**So the little weakling finally decided to show up huh?**" asked the Naruto look alike, making said blonde to look at him with a glare

"Who are you?" asked Naruto with an edge in his voice, after he felt nothing but trouble coming from this guy

"**Me?**" said the yellow eyed boy before a black aura appeared around him, which made Naruto' eyes to go wide just before he heard some words that he could not believe at all

"**I don't know who you can't recognize me, after all...**" said the guy just before his smirk widened even more

"**...I am you**" and with that the Naruto look alike dashed towards Naruto at a speed that the blonde found himself difficult to follow

The test had just begun.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**And that's everything for this chapter. The next chapter will have quite a battle of both sides of the same coin and is finally time for the Namikaze family to realize what they have done, and yes, it's going to be thanks to a certain snake Sannin**

**Thanks to all of you that favorite, followed and reviewed this fic. It's Really awesome to know that people like what you write, and even more awesome to know that even if people don't like they still read it**

**Again sorry for any grammar errors that this chapter may have, i really need to find a beta one of these days...**


	5. To Face the Truth

Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's toughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama'**Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

**_"Rasengan"_** Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This chapter contains curses and some adult themes just so you know**

**Chapter 4**

**To Face the Truth**

_Unknown Stadium in an unknown place_

Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze was a confused and angered boy right now. First his sensei stabbed him with a sword and, even though it didn't hurt at all, it was still not right in his opinion. Then after he woke up in this weird stadium that looked exactly like the one Konoha has, only that there were some weird black humanoid things in the stadium's seats instead of people, he was attacked by someone that looked exactly like him, the only difference between them being that this weird copycat had weird yellow eyes and his clothes were completely white.

He also had a twisted smirk that made Naruto really wary of him

Right now we can find our blonde hero looking at his... clone with a powerful glare, after all he just barely dodged a punch from this guy. He had jumped backwards to make more space between them in case this guy decided to do another surprise attack.

"Who the hell are you?!" asked Naruto, rising his voice mire than he normally does, but he could not help it, after all this guy was really putting him on edge, but his question only got a look from his clone that practically said 'are you stupid?'

**"Are you deft or what? I already told you, you idiot, I am you"** said the Naruto look-alike, his twisted smirk widening more after each sentence. Of course this answer just got a stronger glare from Naruto, who could not understand what this guy was talking about at all

"What do you mean by that? And just where are we anyway?" asked once again the young blonde, trying to get as much information as he could.

This question only got that the smirk from the Naruto look alike turned itself into an annoyed expression. Apparently this guy was upset about Naruto's lack of information

**"For fricking Kami's sake, do I have to spelt everything to you?"** said the yellow eyed Naruto, releasing an annoyed sigh after seeing that his counter part did not understood what was going on

Seriously, how was he going to enjoy beating the crap out of him if he didn't even now what was going on?

**"Fine then, I'll answer your stupid questions since I can't stand that stupid look on your face anyway"** said the Naruto look alike just before crossing his arms in front of his chest, his twisted smirk once again in his face and his yellow eyes shining brightly. Naruto decided to ignore the obvious insult for the sake of getting some answer from this weird clone of him or whatever he was

**"First you're asking who I am and I answered you: I am you, or to be more specific I am your... dark side, your hidden feeling, your alter ego... I am your shadow, your true self, I am the darkness that resides in the deepest part of your soul..."** said Shadow Naruto, getting Naruto's eyes to widen in surprise, but Shadow Naruto was still not done if his smirk was anything to go by

**"Now about the location, I guess you could say that this place is your inner world or something like that, I don't really know nor care, the only thing that matters is that now you're here I can finally deal with you once it for all"** declared Shadow Naruto just before the dark aura from before appeared once again, making Naruto stand on guard, although his eyes were still full of confusion. Suddenly Shadow Naruto started to chuckle, a few second later that chuckle turned itself into a full blown crazy laugh that had Naruto looking at his clone like he had lost it, which he probably did if you ask him

**"Yes, YES! Is going to be glorious! Once I'm done with you I'll go to where our precious****_family_****lives and I'm going to make them pay for what they have done to us! First I'll start with our dear****_siblings_****, oh yes, I'll enjoy making them beg for mercy while I torture them one by one, but I won't kill them, no, that would be just too easy... HA! Now I know, I'll make them watch how I kill or dear****_mommy_****and****_daddy_****, yes, that should be good enough but who knows? I may go a little more wild at the end, if you know what I mean... wait, you probably don't, you are still a virgin after all"**All but yelled Shadow Naruto, his crazy laugh starting once again at the end of it.

Meanwhile Naruto was looking at him with a terrified expression in his face just before he shocked his head, trying to get what this guy said out if his mind. There was no way this guy could be him at all, sure his relationship with his _family_ was more than ruined, but he would never stand so low to do something like what this guy just implied. Sadly for our young hero his Shadow was far from over

**"And after I deal with them is the village turn! hell yeah, I'm going to burn that shithole to the ground and I'm going to kill every single person there, oh its going to be so fun, I can already hear their screams of agony! I'll make the Kyubi look like a little kitty, they won't even know what hit them"** explained Shadow Naruto, pure and simply bloodlust evident is his eyes.

Naruto could not even start to understand what was going on this guy's mind, but now he was more sure than before, there was _no way_ this guy could be him, or any part of him, there was just no way in Naruto's mind, after all he was not a monster like this guy... right?

"You... you're sick" Was the only thing the young apprentice of Zeref could say, his expression one of shock but then turned into nothing but disgust and anger. Meanwhile Shadow Naruto stopped laughing and looked at him like he was stupid since apparently he heard what Naruto just said

**"Excuse me?****_I'M_****sick? you may want to look at yourself in a mirror there kid, since the only thing I'm saying is how we really feel and what we really want to do"** said Shadow Naruto, who's crazy smirk appeared once again at seeing Naruto's heated glare in response to his declaration

"You're lying... there's no way you can be me... you can't be me, no, you are not me!" said the young blonde, his quite voice turning itself into a yell at the end of the sentence. As soon as he finished his word Shadow Naruto was covered in an even more powerful aura and this time random red spark started to appear around his body. Naruto could feel the incredible power that this guy had, and for the first time in his life since meeting Raijin the young blonde actually felt fear, fear at this guy not only for his power, but at his willingness to do so much harm with it

**"That's what I wanted to hear"** said Shadow Naruto, a twisted smirk appearing once again on his face just before he moved even faster than before in Naruto's direction, his fist engulfed completely in red electricity

The battle had begun

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile in Konoha_

"We need to talk" Were the first words that the 4to Hokage, Minato Namikaze, heard after opening the door of his house and seeing that the person who decided to visit him this late at night was none other than Orochimaru, one of the three legendary **_Densetsu no Sannin (Three Great Ninjas)_**

"Talk about what Orochimaru? did something happen?" asked the blonde Hokage, his completely attention in the Snake summoner, after all it was really weird if not unheard of for Orochimaru to actually come to this house, after all he normally reported whatever he had to report in the Hokage's office, never here

"I guess you could say that... may I come in? I believe is better if we have this conversation in private" said the black haired ninja, his normal creepy smile completely gone since his face was one of seriousness, which made both Minato and Kushina, who was standing a little behind her husband, look at the snake summoner funny

"Sure" was the only thing Minato said before he led Orochimaru to the living room of the house, in which Orochimaru took a seat in one of the chair that was around a coffee table while the hero of the 3rd shinobi war sat in the nearby couch

"Would you like some tea Orochimaru-san?" asked Kushina, speaking for the first time since Orochimaru entered her house, but her question just got a little shook of the man head

"That won't be necessary, but I would appreciate if you could stay to hear what I have to tell, after all it concerns the both of you" answered Orochimalu swiftly, his attention focused in both the Hokage and his wife. He wondered exactly how they were going to react to what he was going to say, but if his own assumption were correct then this was going to be one interesting conversation

This declaration brought look of suspicion from both Minato and Kushina, but neither of them said anything. The read headed jounin sat alongside her husband in the sofa, expecting to hear whatever was the news that Orochimaru so urgently had to share with them

"So, what is the problem Orochimaru? Its about the assignment I appointed you about the Academy?" asked Minato, considering the different thing that could have bring the snake summoner here since he has never done so in the past

To those that new Orochimaru they could tell you that the man had a little sadistic side inside of him that complemented a little bit his thirst for knowledge, so for those people it was not surprise that said man was none other than the head of the Torture and Interrogation Division of Konoha, but it was only the Hokage, his wife and a few number of people that knew that Orochimaru was given the task of observing the students that entered the academy and their progress in it

The reason for giving Orochimaru was simple since, in Minato's opinion, Orochimaru was one of the person that knew more about human psychology in the hole village, something that made him really effective in his job at the T&amp;I Division, so Minato assigned Orochimaru the task of observing the development of the student of the Academy so that he could not only form the most effective teams by the time the student graduated, but so that Orochimaru could find out which student were better suited for some specialized task like the Healed Squad Tsunade made

It was after a year of Orochimaru having that job that he made the recommendation to Minato of changing how the team system worked, so that, instead of having teams with 3 genins and one jounin, Konoha would have teams made of 4 genins and 2 jounins. While some of the member of the council complained about how that system would use too many of the jonin that the village had, Minato still went with it since he had no reason to doubt Orochimaru at all, and he was glad he did, after all the system worked even better than the old one since this new one allowed not only for the jonin to focus more on their genin and allow them to teach them a bigger variety if things, but it also improved the survival rate of teams a lot.

"Yes it is... I'm not going to lose anyone's time here so I'll go straight to the matter at hand Minato, how good is your relationship with your son?" asked Orochimatu to both Minato and Kushina, making one of then look at him with a frown while the other had a preoccupied expression on her face

"Why are you asking this? did something happen to Menma-kun?!" asked Kushina, obviously worried about anything that could have happened to her son, but she was even more worried because if something did happen then her son had not told neither her of his father.

"Calm down Kushina, nothing happened to Menma-kun at all, he's actually in the top of his class, although he could do better in the written part if you ask me" said Orochimaru, making both parent sigh in relieve, although the black haired snake summoner was now even more preoccupied, after all it did not escape his attention the fact that they only asked for one of their sons

"Why are you asking then?" asked Minato, confusion obvious in his face and voice

"I think you misunderstood a little bit there so let me be more specific this time, how good is your relationship with your son Naruto-kun?" And just there Orochimaru saw a reaction that made all his suspicion even more of a reality, which made him release a mental sigh since this just made everything harder

As soon as Orochimaru asked his question both Minato and Kushina just looked at him with an unreadable expression just before their eyes widened until they were like plates, then the both of them just looked at each other with the same expression. All of this just made Orochimaru to raise a brow in interest

Meanwhile the young user of the **_Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)_** pondered the question in his mind and he _really_ did not like the answer he was getting, after all it even took him a couple of seconds to actually remember that he had another son besides Menma and even tough he was trying really hard to remember any memory with his first son he could not actually do it, like he had completely forgotten about him, and that feeling was something that made Minato panic a little bit, how could he forget his own son?

Kushina's thoughts were even more wild than her husband, but just like him she could not remember any moment with her son, even tough she thought hard about important moments like birthdays, training days and their first day at the academy, she just could not picture him in any of those, like if he never was there, which was something that made Kushina's heart to twist in pain. How was it possible to _not_ have any memories with one of her sons? There was no way she could have neglected him like that!... right?

Both the Hokage and her wife's attention were taken out of their thoughts by a cough from Orochimaru, who knew enough about human conduct to figure out the answer to his question just by looking at them

"I'm going to guess that it's not good, isn't it? Well that explains a part of the problem..." said Orochimaru, and even though the last part was said in low voice is was loud enough for both Minato and Kushina to hear it.

"What are you talking about Orochimaru?! did something happen to Naru-kun at the academy?!" almost yelled Kushina after standing up, her expression one of panic and fear, after all if something _did_ happen to her son at the Academy like him having to repeat a year of it just because neither her or her husband helped him when they should, she would not be able to forgive herself

Minato stood up and put a hand over his wife's shoulder, trying to calm her down, but Orochimaru could easily see that the fourth fire shadow too was concerned about his son, he just was better at controlling his emotions, something that Orochimaru actually respected from this man

"No, nothing at all Kushina, Naruto-kun's development in the Academy is pretty normal, his grades are not great, but they aren't good neither... in fact if you ask me I'll say that they are too... regular" answered Orochimaru with his arms crossed over his chest, looking at the two powerful ninja in front of him, who were not in the couch once again, waiting for the inevitable question

"What do you mean by that?" asked Minato with a frown of both concern for his son and shame for feeling like he had forgotten about him at all, something that, in his opinion, made him a terrible father

Meanwhile Kushina gaze was focused on the floor, but you could easily see that her mind was somewhere else, probably trying to find any sort of moment with her first born child, but she just could not. All of a sudden another thought made itself present in her mind and this one almost made cry right there: she could not even remember how her son actually looked like! Sure, she remembered that he looked similar to Menma, but she could not remember his facial details or what kind of clothes he uses, for Kami's sake she could not even remember actually buying clothes for him! All of these thoughts made the former container of the Kyubi feel like the worst mother ever, and she just wondered how in Kami's name she had forgotten about her son at all

"What I mean is that your son scores in the Academy are too... unnatural if you ask me. First are the written test, in those exams your son always get half of the answers wrong while the other one are correct, meaning he gets half of the top score of the test. Now I can understand that happening sometimes, but the fact is that in the two and a half year young Naruto-kun has been in the academy he has always got the same points in every written exam... almost like he did this on purpose" said Orochimaru, seeing how Minato's from became bigger and how Kushina's attention went from the floor to himself

"Now if we go to the practical side of the Academy we can find the same kind of things in your son's grades: always half of the maximum score when it comes to any practical lesson, and when it comes to the taijutsu part Naruto-kun progress is just a little better than the average, something that I could understand since it seems you have not been helping him at all in that aspect..." said Orochimaru, making both Minato and Kushina flinch, not because of his tone since it was pretty neutral, but more in the fact that it was true "... but for what I know Naruto-kun should be one of the best in that part of the Academy, after all he has been having spars with Sasuki Uchiha for a while now and she has yet to beat him"

Both The Hokage's and his wife's eyes widened in surprise after hearing that, after all they both knew that Sasuki Uchiha, daughter of their friends Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha, is one of the best at the academy, tied with their daughter for the position of Kunoichi of the Year, so how was possible that their son, who had yet to have any special training, something that made both parent to feel more ashamed of themselves, defeated her like that?

"So, it was after looking at all of these facts that I decided that, in my opinion, your son is hiding his real abilities at the Academy" revealed Orochimaru, surprising both Minato and Kushina once again

"W-what? why would he do that?!" asked the read-headed beauty, wondering why would her son fake his skills in the Academy, after all that was hardly the normal conduct a boy of his age would have

Meanwhile Minato's thought were a little different. If what Orochimaru was saying is really true then that meant that his son had been training, since there was no way that he could be strong enough to beat Sasuki without any source of training, but if that was true then, who trained him? Sure there was the possibility that he trained alone, but that was highly unlikely, which meant that someone had been helping his son with his ninja training, but the question was who?

"I can't tell you the exact reasons since I'm not him, but I'm going to guess that he just did not wanted anyone knowing his real strength" said Orochimaru before releasing a sigh, knowing that what he was going to say next was going to really upset them both

"Considering the information that I have about Naruto-kun I must say that right now I have no choice but consider him a flight risk" said Orochimaru, and almost as soon as he did he was hit by two powerful killer instincts, courtesy of both Minato and Kushina, whose powerful glare was directed fully at the snake summoner

"Are you implying that my son could become a traitor Orochimaru?" asked Minato, his voice cold and his glare powerful, after all there was no way he would ever let _anyone_ said something like that to anyone from his family, never.

"You have to face the facts Minato! first he hides his true abilities in the academy, abilities that we have no idea from were he got them since I know you're also thinking that someone must have been teaching him for a while, but you and I have no idea of the _who_, then its the fact that your son has no bonds of importance with the exception of his relationship with Sasuki Uchiha, which probably started not so long ago, and then we can add the fact that, for what I can see he does not even has a good relationship with his family! And you don't need to be an expert to notice that Naruto-kun holds no love for this village, something that you two could have fixed if you paid enough attention, but you didn't, and for that I can easily tell you that your son has no true reasons for staying in this village, let alone protect it with his life, so yes Minato, I do consider your son a flight risk, and after he graduates from the academy he could easily become a traitor to the leaf" said Orochimaru with steel on his voice, after all he was not going to let this two intimidate him for simply stating a fact

Although it's not like this two could really intimidate Orochimaru at all, after all their killing instinct paled in comparison to _his_

For a few minutes there was nothing but silence and a powerful battle of glares between the three Kage level ninja to the point in which you could easily cut the tension in the air even with a rusty kunai

"Is this everything you came to say Orochimaru?" asked Minato with a cold voice, getting nothing but a nod from the snake summoner, who stood up alongside the blonde Hokage , after all he had already done his job here, so there was not really any reason for him to stay

"Orochimaru" said Minato, now standing at the door of his house and seeing the head of the T&amp;I department leaving, but he still had some words to say before that

"What is it Minato?" asked Orochimaru with a raised brow, wondering what the fourth fire shadow wanted to say to him now

"Just... thank you... for telling me all of this"

"I was just doing my job... but now it's your turn to fix this before something happens..." said Orochimaru before simply leaving in a leaf _**Shunshin no Jutsu**_**_ (_**_**Body Flicker Technique**_**_)_**; after all he still had one more thing to do

"Don't worry, I will" said the blonde Hokage, more than himself that to anyone just before entering the house and pondering everything that just happened. How could he have been such a lousy father? He remembered how it felt to grow without a family, he was an orphan after all, and it was only when his sensei and father figure started to train him that he actually felt true happiness, so he made a vow to himself that he would be the best father he could be to his children, to make sure that they could have the happiness that came with the family that Minato didn't have the first years of his life... But apparently he had failed somehow

Meanwhile in the living room Kushina was also pondering about everything that happened this night. At first she could not believe at all that she had really forgot about one of her sons like that, but the more she tried to remember anything about Naruto the more she realized how bad of a mother she really was. Since the destruction of her clan Kushina had always wanted a big family, and she had promised herself that she would do anything to bring joy to that family, but it looks like that was a promise she did not manage to fulfill, after all what kind of mother neglects her son like that?

The Uzumaki-Namikaze matriarch was taken out of her thoughts by a gentle hand on her shoulder, and when she saw that it was her husband who had a sad face she finally released everything she was holding and started to cry while hugging her husband as tight as she could while Minato tried his best to comfort her

"H-how d-did we forget about him Minato-kun?" asked Kushina between sobs, fearing how bad the relationship with her first born child truly was

"I don't know Kushi-chan, I don't know... but we're going to fix this no matter what" said Minato, who felt her wife nod in his chest, her sobs becoming less loud. It was at that moment that both of them promised to themselves that, no matter how hard it might be they will find a way to reconnect with their neglected son

That was the promise of a life time

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile with Orochimaru_

The powerful snake summoner appeared in his personal office: a little room that had nothing but a wooden desk with a chair, some book case filled with them and it was illuminated by some torches. This place could be found and his secret lab that only he, the Hokage and other few peoples like his teammates knew about. This was the place in which Orochimaru would normally do his experiments; of course he could _not_ use any test subject for those experiments unless they were prisoners or any other person that the Hokage approved, and even that only happened once Orochimatu was more than sure that the procedure would not kill the patient

He would have to express his gratitude to his busty teammate one of these days; after all she really helped in improving the surviving expectation of the patients

Orochimaru sat behind his desk, which had some papers on top of it, and started thinking about some stuff of the past. Yes, he could easily remember the times in which he would have easily just kidnapped some civilian or ninja and experiment on him, and if he was ever found out he would just have left the village, after all its not like he had a lot of love for it neither, but all of those thoughts and plans went out of the window the moment he met _him_

Even after all this years the memory of the day he met that monster still made him shudder, and the only thing Orochimaru wanted more than his dream of learning all the secrets this world has was to never face that monster again

He was sure he would not survive a second time after all

The snake summoner attention went from the past to the new figure that had just appeared here in a _**Shunshin no Jutsu**_**_ (_**_**Body Flicker Technique**_**_)_**, just like he had requested her

This person was wearing the usual ANBU uniform, but you could easily see that this individual was a woman. Just like any other ANBU on duty she had a mask on her face, which looked like a snake, and you could easily ser her hair behind her mark, which was black with a blue tint to it and was styled in a short, spiky, fanned-ponytail

'You called sensei?" asked the female ANBU in a chirp tone, her hands on her hips and Orochimaru could practically feel the smirk his apprentice had behind her mask. The snake summoner had to contain a sigh, knowing that, even though she was now in ANBU, his little apprentice would never change

He just wished she stopped getting on his nerves so much

"Yes I did... I have an important assignment for you, and it's important that you tell no one, not even the Hokage about this, understood?..."

Orochimaru was never a man to leave anything to luck, so it was not a real surprise that he too wanted to deal with the mystery that was Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, he didn't wanted to do this because of the village or anything like that, no, he had more personal reasons than that

"...Anko"

After all the few times Orochimaru had actually seen the boy in person he was barely able to contain his shock and the shudder he got, after all for each year it passed, somehow that boys presence started to become more like _his,_something that only him detected, thanks to that life changing meeting

Yes, its looks like the life of Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze was about to get more complicated, and there was nothing he could do about it

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile in the Training Room_

Right now if you were to look you could find the man known as Zeref, sitting in the ground, his complete focus in no one but the passed out form of his apprentice. Of course the powerful dark mage had an idea of what his apprentice was facing, and he knew that this was probably one of the hardest things anyone could ever experience, after all facing your own inner demons and accepting as part of you is something that almost no one could do

It was for that reason that so many mages in his world lost themselves when they started practicing any form of **_Yami no Maho (Darkness Magic)_**, of course there were those individuals that managed to control their own darkness, but by doing that they were just wasting the real power that this form of magic has, so if you were to ask Zeref what was the best way to become a master of **_Yami no Maho (Darkness Magic),_**it would be this one

A part of him of course wondered if he had done this too son, or if he had sent his only student into a death trap, but he easily erased those feelings, he had completely confidence in his student after all, and if there was someone that could face this challenge and come out winning that someone was definitely his student

It was after a few more minutes of just staring at his apprentice that a strong presence swept over the entire place and, if Naruto had seen his sensei at that moment he would have been definitely surprised, after all his sensei's normal emotional face turned into a powerful glare as soon as he felt this presence

"What are you doing here, Alcor?" asked Zeref out of nowhere, his voice had a threatening tone that almost no one from this world has ever heard and for just a moment you could have seen how his normal black eyes flashed red

"Is that the way to treat a friend, Zeref-kun?" asked a silky voice that seemed to echoes everywhere, but Zeref's attention went to one of the corners of the training room, from which a figure started to emerge from the shadows itself

This figure looked like a teenager, definitely male, probably between seventeen and eighteen years old of age. This person has curly white hair and a very pale complexion. His eyes were squinting, giving him a sleepy appearance and he has white make-up/eyelashes around his eyes. He wears a red and black striped shirt with a frilled undershirt, along with matching shoes and black pants.

"We are hardly that Alcor, now tell me, what did you came here to do?" asked Zeref, his powerful glare directed at the mane called Alcor, although this did not make the smile this man has lessen at all, actually it looked like it became wider

"You really wound me with that hostility of yours, but I guess I can't do anything about you attitude now, can I? Asked the white haired man, ignoring Zeref's question with a smile on his face

"What does your master wants this time, servant of the Shinigami?" asked Zeref, revealing Alcor's identity, but of course this didn't had any effects on said man, who simply started walking closer to Zeref, his smile still present on his face

"I believe the answer to that question is kind of obvious, don't you think?" said Alcor, while signaling Naruto's sleeping form with his eyes, but as soon a he did this he found a hand strangling his neck, courtesy of a red eyed pissed dark lord, who's glare had become even worse

"If you ever put a finger on him Alcor, I'll kill you" hissed Zeref, showing more emotions that ever since he had started training Naruto, after all he had never trusted this man, just like he had never trusted this man's master. He had never felt any source of gratitude towards the Shinigami since he has brought him to this world, since he knew that the Shinigami had done it for his own reasons and not for the goodness of his heart, if he had any

So he will be damned if he event let anyone of them get their claws on his apprentice, even if he had to fight a god himself

Even though Zeref was pressing Alcor's neck pretty tightly the white haired man kept smiling, just like if nothing was happening. Then like by some art of magic Alcor simply vanished from Zeref's grip and simply appeared behind him, a hand on his mouth since he was apparently trying to hold a chuckle

"I'm sure you will Zeref-kun, but you don't have to worry about that, my Master just told me to come here and take a look after all" told Alcor, his gaze still focused in the paced out form of our blonde hero while Zeref's glare was still directed at the white haired servant of the Shinigami

"I see that you used the gift my Master gave to you" said Alcor after a few seconds like if he was stating a fact

The mention of the Shinigami's gift made Zeref look at the back of his right hand, and just as he did this a symbol appeared right there. This symbol was simply the kanji for 'Death' in a completely black color, and for anyone that looked at it would simply look like a tattoo or something, but of course Zeref's knew better, since this was one of the two gift the Shinigami gave him when he brought him to this world

One of those gifts was the mark he had on his right hand. Said mark had two purposes, the first one was to allow the Shinigami, and by extension Alcor, to know where he was at any giving moment, since apparently the Shinigami wanted to make sure Zeref did not step over the line by doing anything he might consider problematic. The other function it had was something that Zeref actually liked: it kept his powers under control. This allowed Zeref to actually express what he feels without having the fear of killing everything around him, something that was a real problem back at his original world

The other gift was something a lot more different, it was the sword Zeref had used to send Naruto's conscience into the deepest part of his soul. Said sword allowed Zeref to do a number of things related to the souls of both the living and the death ones, but it was something that the Dark Lord only used in some very specific circumstance, after all he didn't want to use something that the Shinigami had given to him, and the condition to use its most powerful power was something that Zeref had only manage to fulfill twice in his lifetime in the Elemental Nations

"That I did"

"And you're sure he was ready for that? Naruto-kun is still young after all"

"I have complete trust in my apprentice Alcor; I don't need you doubting that"

"I see..." ended the white haired man, looking at the sleeping Naruto with a lot of intensity, almost like he was the answer of a puzzle that he really needed to figure out. It was only after more seconds of intense staring, or glaring in Zeref's case, Alcor simply released a little chuckle before simply walking once again to one of the corners of the training room. One he reached that place he just stared at Zeref again, meeting his harsh glare with a smile

"I'm really exited to see who far Naruto-kun goes with someone like you teaching him Zeref-kun... just make sure you don't fail him as a teacher, after all he's one of the few interesting humans that exist, it would be a shame for him to not be able to face what's coming" Said Zeref ominous just before simply disappearing, like if he was never there to begin with

The dark lord known as Zeref just released sigh after hearing that, his eyes going to back to his normal black ones and his gaze once again on his paced out student. He wondered about why was someone like the Shinigami was so interested in Naruto, but in the end it did not really matter to him, after all the matters of the gods were not his problem

But he was sure of something, that his apprentice would face a lot of hardships and trials, and just like he had told him the day they met he would help him in anyway he could, even if he had to face the Shinigami himself or any other god

Yes, Zeref would show them exactly how much power the strongest Dark Mage of all times had if it meant helping Naruto in any way, after he was the closest thing he had to a family

And just like Mavis had said she would protect her family with her life, Zeref would do the same, even if the price was his very own soul

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**_"Rairyu no Tekken (Lighting Dragon's Iron Fist)!"_** were the words that Naruto heard just before a red lighting covered fist slammed directly into his face, courtesy of none other than Shadow Naruto, which sent him flying to the other side of the stadium. Naruto managed to skit to a halt after a few seconds, fast enough to look up and see how Shadow Naruto was dashing directly towards him, his hand covered once again in red lighting, only this time he had it in the form of a claw instead of a fist

**_"Rairyu no Saiga (Lighting Dragon's Crushing Fang)!"_**yelled Shadow Naruto just before sweeping his right arm just he finally reached Naruto, luckily for the blonde he managed to jump out of the way of the attack just before it hit him, since at the moment Shadow Naruto's attack touched the ground it made a big fissure over it thanks to the cutting properties of the spell

'My turn' thought Naruto after increasing the space between him and his Shadow. The young blonde started to build magic in his mouth for his attack, and by the looks of it Shadow Naruto had just the same idea

**_"Rairyu no Hōkō_****_(Lighting Dragon's Roar)"_** yelled both Naruto and his Shadow before releasing the powerful lighting spell, one blue and the other one red. Both attack met each other at the middle, creating a great explosion that made Naruto covers his eyes with his arm, which of course proved to be a mistake since the next thing he felt was a powerful lighting improved kick from Shadow Naruto that just like his fist sent the young blonde flying to the other side of the stadium

'Dammit' thought Naruto who was holding his stomach after standing up, a powerful glare in his eyes directed toward his Shadow, who just stood there with a smirk on his face, thinking of how weak his 'good side' was

**"I hope you step your game, this would not be fun if the only thing I do is handle you like a rag doll"** said Shadow Naruto before once again dashing towards Naruto, this time with red electricity running trough his foots

**"****_Rairyu no Kagizume (Lighting Dragon's Claw)_****"**said Shadow Naruto before throwing a high kick aimed to Naruto's face. However the young apprentice of Zeref managed to evade the attack by bending down just before the attack reached him. Naruto took the chance and filled his fist with blue lighting just before throwing his fist right at his Shadow's face.

Sadly for him his true self moved his head fast enough to avoid the punch and grab his wrist just before slamming a powerful hook right at Naruto's ribs. The young apprentice of Zeref had no time to react though, since just after that a knee connected perfectly in his stomach, which made him arc over in both pain and lack of hair, but Shadow Naruto was not yet over though, so the next thing he felt was another hook, this time to his face courtesy of the hand Shadow Naruto used to grab his wrist, which he had released just a few moments ago

Naruto stumbled a little away from his shadow, feeling pain in all over his body, but he had faced worse when sparing with his sensei, so it was a determined Naruto that turned around and made a swinging motion in from of him that looked like an X with his arms who were covered in blue lighting

"**_Rairyu no Yokugeki (Lighting Dragon's Wing Attack)!_**" yelled Naruto before releasing the energy in his arm after swinging them, sending a powerful X shaped lighting of the size if his torso directly towards his Shadow

Said Shadow was not afraid of it though, since when he saw what his normal self was about to do he too prepared his own attack by overcharging his fist with lighting before throwing a perfect jab in front of him, he too releasing the energy he had gathered

**"****_Rairyu no Hoken (Lighting Dragon's Breakdown Fist)!_****"**said Shadow Naruto before a human size fist made of red lighting appeared from his fist and collided with Naruto's spell. Sadly for said blonde his shadow's spell proved to be stronger when the gigantic fist went past Naruto's attack and impacted his body directly, sending waves of pain to every part of the young blondes body

Naruto could only scream in pain after receiving the powerful spell head on and falling to the ground face first. Meanwhile Shadow Naruto started to just walk towards the fallen blonde, a smirk in his face and confidence in his eyes besides the normal craziness they always had

**"You know, this would not be happening if you weren't such a pussy and went to take revenge in those that wronged us"** said Shadow Naruto like he was talking to a little boy

**"But nooo, you had to be the good guy here and do shit, well I'm tired of that! Don't we deserve to have our way with those bastards we are related too? Don't we deserve to release our fury upon the pathetic village of Konoha? I think we do! but since you lack the balls to do it I'm going to have to do it myself, but don't worry, I promise you that all of them will suffer, after all that's what we truly want, isn't it?"**said Shadow Naruto in a matter of a fact tone, looking down at his other self with his permanent smirks on his face

"Shut up... That's not what I want... I'm not a monster like you" said Naruto while trying to stand up, giving a harsh glare toward his darkness, although this just got a raiser brow from him before he released a sigh

**"You know what? Forget it, I'm tired of trying to make you understand, so you can just die already"** said the Shadow with a sadistic smirk, his hand full of red electricity and in the form of a claw

**"****_Rairyu no Saiga (Lighting Dragon's Crushing Fang)!"_**said Shadow Naruto, aiming the attack directly towards Naruto's neck. Shadow Naruto was sure he had won once the spell hit the mark; of course the sound that he got after the attack was not what he expected

_Puff_

**"What?!"** yelled Shadow Naruto at seeing the log of wood that he just cut in half, result of Naruto's **_Kawarimi no jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)_**. The Shadow of Naruto had no time to even wonder where the log had even come from though, since he was barely able to turn around and catch the kunai his original self had just threw at him

**"Really? This is everything you have at this point? I have to say I'm actually disappointed in you"** said Shadow Naruto with a deadpan, looking at his counter apart like he was an idiot, but for some reason this just got a smirk from Naruto himself. Shadow Naruto was about to ask what was so funny, but was stopped by a sound coming from the kunai at his hand, and when he actually looked at the kunai he could not stop the course to get to his mouth

**"Fuck me sideways"** cursed Shadow Naruto before releasing his hold on the kunai but it was already too late since as soon as he did the paper bomb Naruto had putted there exploded, lifting a lot of smoke and of course hurting Shadow Naruto

**"You little fucker! That's it! Your dead, as soon as I get my hands on you I'm going to rip you apart!"** yelled an angered Shadow Naruto who was recovering from the explosion, his body and clothes no had some burns here and there but for someone like him it would take a lot more to really injure him, let alone kill him.

Shadow Naruto was surprised to say at least when, from the smoke cloud that the explosion lifted at least a dozen of shuriken came flying towards him, and even though he actually manage to deflect them by using his own kunais he was not able to avoid the powerful spear like blue lightning that hit him straight in his chest, releasing an explosion of electricity that actually made Shadow Naruto curse after being blasted away by the attack that he recognized as the **_Rairyū Hōtengeki_****_(Lighting Dragon's Heavenward Halberd)_**, one of Naruto's strongest spells

Naruto was not yet over though, since he moved at an impressive speed towards Shadow Naruto, but if you paid enough attention you could see that there was something wrong with this Naruto, but Shadow Naruto was at this point too enraged to even noticed, so he met Naruto halfway with a powerful fist directed to his face, but he was once again surprised when instead if hitting him the attack actually went past him

**'A clone!'** thought Shadow Naruto, but it was already too late since the real Naruto, who was hiding himself behind the clone, shortened the distance between him and his shadow and gave him a destructive upper cut, actually lifting him off the ground, but Naruto was not going to lose this opportunity though, so he jumped backward fast enough and threw another spell, hoping to end the fight with that

"**_Rairyu no Hōkō_****_(Lighting Dragon's Roar)!_**" used Naruto, the powerful lighting roar impacting Shadow Naruto while he was on the ground, creating another explosion. For a moment Naruto just stood there, looking at the cloud of smoke his attack had lifted while trying to regain his breath, but his widened in shock when he saw a black energy projectile coming from the smoke at a speed too fast for him to dodge, so when he tried the attack went and pierced his shoulder completely, making Naruto growl in pain and try to stop the bleeding by putting his hand over his shoulder

**"Now I'm really pissed off... I was going to make this fast, but now I find myself wanting to just... break you"** hissed Shadow Naruto, who appeared after the cloud of smoke disappeared, looking worst to wear since not only were his clothes destroyed in some places, but he had blood running through his chest and mouth.

The now enraged Shadow Naruto lifted his hand and pointed at Naruto just before multiple black magic circles appeared around him, each one the size of his head **"****_Kuroi Yajirushi:Kantsu (Dark Arrows: Piercing)"_** was the thing Shadow Naruto said before each circle releases the same kind of black projectiles, each of the size of a kunai, directly towards Naruto

Said blonde was stunned for a moment at the obvious display of **_Yami no Maho (Darkness Magic)_**, but he managed to get out of it fast enough to start dodging the 'arrows' that Shadow Naruto had summoned. However even though he managed to evade a lot of the projectiles he was not ready for when Shadow Naruto made a few of them divide itself at midflight, creating two for each arrow and changing their trajectory, making Naruto unable to dodge them on time

"GAHHH!" screamed Naruto in pain after a number of those arrows pierced right through his shoulders, legs, arms and thighs. The young blonde ended up falling on his knees from the pain, his vision getting a little blurry because of the blood he lost of each of his wounds. While in his knees the blonde looked up and just like he feared Shadow Naruto was already upon him, rage on his face instead of his normal smirk

**"This is your lost, but now I'll enjoy this as much as I can"** said Shadow Naruto before starting to kick the downed blonde, who was now face first in the ground, who's conscience fading away with every hit

'I'm going to die here?... without accomplishing anything?... I'm I really this weak?' were the thoughts running through Naruto's mind, who could not believe he was going to dye at the hands of this impostor

At the thought of him being an impostor another memory appeared on his mind, this one of the word his sensei had told him before sending him here, how some people denied their darkness while other let their own darkness to control them, and that if he wanted to be strong he would have to accept that part of him.

Naruto shook his head mentally though, after all there was no way he would ever believe that someone like this guy was a part of him, he was no monster, and he would never just kill for pleasure of something like that!

Other memory appeared in Naruto's head, but this time of his look alike **_"I promise you that all of them will suffer, after all that's what we truly want, isn't it"_** of course of you were to ask Naruto he would tell you that he didn't want revenge on his biological family, that he didn't care about them at all, not even to take revenge... but Naruto knew the true, that no matter how hard he tried to denied it there was always going to be a part of him that wanted to just... hurt them, make them feel pain just like they made him feel for so many years, and it was only thanks to his father figure that he didn't become a revenge motivated maniac like his Shadow

Naruto had an epiphany at that moment, this guy that called himself his shadow... is what he could have become if it wasn't for Zeref: someone that let hate to rule his life... and the more Naruto saw him through the fight he could see that, just like him, he felt betrayed by his biological family in every possible way, but while Naruto had Zeref this guy had no one... just like him for the first seven years of his life

'This guy... he's just like me... isn't he?... No, I have been denying it since he told me but... that was just me not wanting to accept my darkest emotions... Not wanting to accept that I have someone like him inside of me but... in the end that doesn't matter, he's really me, isn't he?' thought Naruto, looking up at his shadow who had stopped kicking him a few seconds ago and was now huffing a lot. However it looked like Shadow Naruto had not registered Naruto's change in mentality since he was getting ready to go for the kill

**"****_Rairyu no Saiga (Lighting Dragon's Crushing Fang)!_****"** hissed Shadow Naruto before throwing the powerful claw like attack towards Naruto's neck once again

'NO! I wont lose!... I must give it form with my magic and a purpose with my mind' thought Naruto just before the attack reached him, remembering his sensei's words about how **_Yami no Maho (Darkness Magic)_** worked. And fortunately or unfortunately it you saw it from Shadow Naruto's perspective, his magic and darkness answered his mental call and from the ground where his hand was a completely black chain appeared and stopped Shadow Naruto's attack by tidying itself to his arm

**"What?! but how did you..."** whatever words Shadow Naruto was going to say died in his throat when he saw Naruto, who was now on his back, holding in his hand what looked like a completely black sphere of the size of his palm. You could practically feel the power the spell had, and Shadow Naruto knew that from this distance, that spell could easily be fatal.

Naruto used all the power he still had to move just before throwing the powerful mass of magic directly towards his Shadow, who was either too stunned or simply could not move because of the chain, but in the end the reason did not matter since the black sphere hit him square in the chest, creating another explosion and making Shadow Naruto release a scream of agony

Naruto used all the strength he could muster to stand up and star walking toward the now fallen form of his shadow, who now had a fist sized hole in his chest, which would have easily kill any other person, but Naruto could already see that his shadow was alive, but he didn't have much time if the way his eyes lost al bright indicated something

**"How... could you use... that magic...?"** asked Shadow Naruto between coughs of blood, wanting to know how his weaker self managed to do something that was impossible just the day before

"I accepted it... what you said... its true, there is a part of me that wants to see them suffer... but I won't let that control me... you might be me, but I won't become like you... no, I won't let _their_ neglect to turn me into a monster...I'm stronger than that, and you know it" said Naruto with as much fire he could put in his voice, and he was a little surprised when this actually made Shadow Naruto chuckle a little bit, although he could easily see that his shadow was in real pain

**"He... I guess I underestimated you, didn't I?"** admitted Shadow Naruto with a painfully smile just before his body was covered in a golden aura, but that was not the only thing that happened since Shadow Naruto's body started to actually fade away

**"You better get strong... next time I won't hold back at all..."** were the last words Shadow Naruto said just before disappearing, his body turning into dozens of golden lights that floated into the sky. Naruto saw all of this with a sad smile, vowing to himself that he would get as strong as he could now that he had passed this hellish test

The young blonde was already at his limit though, so it was not surprise when he collapsed face first in the ground, his eyes closed and his body wounded everywhere, but he still had a real smile on his face

He had won the fight after all

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**This was my first time writing a fight, so I really hope I did a good job at it. This chapter brought me some problem while writing it, but I hope you liked the final product (although if you ask me it could have been better)**

**Just in case some of you wonder, no, Alcor is not an OC, he's just a character from a game I really liked, and since I didn't want to make an OC I simply decided to use him.**

**Also thanks you to those that made constructive criticism in the reviews, and also thanks to everyone that followed, favorite or reviewed this fic**


	6. The Price of Our Deeds

Naruto of Chaos

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama'**Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

**_"Rasengan"_** Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**Answer**** time!**

**FlamingBlaze: ****_Just like I answered you in the PM my answer is that I still don't know yet. This story can easily work with or without it so I'll probably be putting a poll in the future_**

**ariboku34: ****_Yes and read above_**

**Leroyallenxnaruto:****_ The answer for your question is in this chapter_**

**Emperor Of Pandemonium: ****_ahh the harem, that's going to be a fun to write. Right now I will only tell you who are in the harem officially. Those are FemSasuke (Sasuki), FemHaku and Fu. Now I'm not saying that there won't be more girls in the harem, but I'll probably keep it with a maximum of six._**

**Chapter 5**

**The Price of Our Deeds**

_Training Room, one week later_

Zeref was without a doubt a patience man. Years of having nothing to do but mediate and control his magic made him learn the virtue that patience was, so it was no surprise to anyone that knew him, which were just a few, to find him in the exact same spot he has been for over a week, his complete attention in the sleeping form of his fourteen year old apprentice

A week has passed since Zeref had sent Naruto's conscience to the deepest part of what people would call their souls, and while anyone else might have become a nervous wreck while thinking that they sent someone to their death, the black haired mage was actually quite calm, and the reason of that was simply because he knew how this test worked, and considering the fact that his apprentice's magic went from chaotic to normal after the first day he figure out that everything went well, but he just had to be patience and wait for his blonde apprentice return to the land of the conscience

Normally people would call anyone that has not slept for a week crazy, but Zeref found more rest in the art of meditating that in sleeping, after all he could never stop the different nightmares that plagued his mind about all the atrocities he committed back on his world, and he knew that those nightmares will probably haunt him for the rest of his life here.

Although considering the fact that he stopped growing old his life might be to long for his own comfort

Yes, he was slightly surprised when Alcor had told him that he still had all of his powers in this world, including his 'Immortality', something that was born thanks to his experiment on the **_Black Arts (Black Art)_**. Of course it was because of this that the Shinigami had given that seal to Zeref, so that his magic did not go out of control, but the seal had no effect on his immortality, which meant that Zeref was going to live until someone managed to kill him again

He had no hurry in dying this time though, since he has more than one duty to fulfill before accepting his death unlike last time, and of those duties was of course make sure that his apprentice was ready to face whatever was going to happen in the future, whether it was something from that Akatsuki group or something more dangerous Zeref didn't know, but he would not let his apprentice to face anything without preparing him first

A groan of pain followed by his apprentice stirring made Zeref aware of his apprentice awakening, who made Zeref release a relieved sigh, after all if the information he got from the outside was correct then the fastest Naruto returned the better

"Damn my back" were the first words Naruto grumbled after straitening his body in a seating position while one of his hands were in the bridge of his nose in an attempt to stop the headache he could already feel was coming

"That's what happens when you sleep in the floor for a whole week" informed Zeref, which made his apprentice attention turn to him

"You could have moved me to a bed" said Naruto with a deadpan expression on his face

"And risk anything happening to you? I don't think so" was the answer Zeref gave to his apprentice, who stood up and started stretching his body, which made his bones crack a little bit

"What happened?" Asked Zeref bluntly after a few seconds, and Naruto didn't even need to ask to know exactly what his sensei was talking about, it was pretty obvious after all.

And so the young apprentice of Zeref told his sensei everything that happened once he woke up in that weird stadium, from his meeting with his shadow to the fight and how he managed to defeat him and how he had accepted him in the end as a part of him. Meanwhile Zeref just stood there, listening to his apprentice tale with intently and feeling prouder and prouder by the second, after all he managed to do what almost none other had done, accepting his darkness and controlling it at the end.

It was after Naruto ended his story that both sensei and apprentice just stood there without talking until the young blonde asked something that bothered every since he started fighting his shadow

"Sensei, how is that my shadow's attacks affected me? I mean, am I not supposed to be immune to lightning? Asked Naruto with confusion evident on his voice since his sensei had told him every detail about his **_Kaminari no Metsuryu Maho (Lighting Dragon Slayer Magic)_**, and immunity towards the element of lightning was one of the advantages this magic gave to his user

"You must understand something first Naruto-kun, what you just went through was not a fight between mages, but a fight between wills. The spells that you and your shadow used were nothing but representation of the strength of your wills, not real magic. That's the reason neither you or him could eat each others lighting spells, and that is the reason that when you accepted him as a part of yourself you managed to use what it looked like **_Yami no Maho (Darkness Magic)_** so flawlessly. That is also the reason of why he became stronger every time you rejected him, you were giving him power by thinking that he was an entity different from you when it fact he _was_ you" Informed Zeref, getting a nod of understanding from his apprentice, but the dark mage was not finished though.

"Naruto-kun, even though I'm sure you would like to re-start your training in **_Yami no Maho (Darkness Magic)_** since it would be a lot easier for you now that you accepted you darkness, I must tell you that training will be canceled for the rest of the week" said Zeref, getting a surprised expression from his apprentice, since this was the first time his sensei had say anything like this

"Why?" asked Naruto with a serious face, after all there must be a pretty good reason for his sensei decisions since he knew that the man was never to do something like this just for the heck of it. Meanwhile Zeref could do nothing but release a sigh, knowing that his next few words will affect his apprentice somewhat

"Naruto-kun, the reason for that is that I need you to lay low for a while..." Said Zeref before raising a hand, stopping Naruto from asking whatever he was going to ask "...because it has been already a week since you started the task" continued Zeref with his normal emotionless expression, not surprised at all when his blonde apprentice's eyes widened in surprise

"B-but how? I-i mean how is that possible?" asked Naruto, doing his best to calm himself before asking while thanking his training in controlling his emotions, after all his first reaction was to jump and scream.

"What happened Naruto-kun is that, even though you ended the test in just a day, it took a whole week for your magical core to stabilize and for both your body and mind to adapt to the changes that you got because of the influx of **_Yami no Maho (Darkness Magic)_** that you received after accepting your shadow. While that happened you entered in a comatose state that lasted a week, that is the reason of why I need you to lay low for a while, since you have been missing school for a complete week someone might get suspicious and we can't allow anyone finding this place or about your relationship with me" said Zeref, getting a little nod of acceptance from his apprentice, who still looked a little lost about the information he got, but since he could not find any reason for his sensei to lie to him about something like this he simply decided to accept it.

Besides that really explained the incredible hunger he had

Meanwhile Zeref could only imagine what his apprentice would do if he were to tell him that the real reason of him wanting Naruto to lay low for a while was because his family had finally decided to pay some sort of attention to him

'They could not have chosen a worst moment' was the thought Zeref had once his spy told him about what was happening with the Hokage and his family

"It's already late Naruto-kun, and since today is Sunday you have to go to the academy tomorrow, so I suggest that you go home and rest for today, tomorrow might be a little troublesome for you after all" Said Zeref, getting another nod from his apprentice, who simply started walking towards his room here which had the magic circle that would send him to his apartment, muttering about how he was going to have to deal with Sasuki's temper tomorrow

"I think the Uchiha will be the less of your concerns" muttered Zeref low enough so that his apprentice could not hear him. Of course a part of the dark lord wanted to tell Naruto everything he knew about his family's new found interest in him, but he decided that this would be a good test for the young blonde, a test of not only of control but also a test of the hearth

"Lets see how will you react to them Naruto-kun, specially now that you have accepted your own inner demons" muttered Zeref before simply sitting in the floor again with his eyes closed in concentration, knowing that this was a necessary test for his young apprentice

He just really hoped that his apprentice managed to stay in control, for both his sake and the sake of the village

Not like Zeref really cared about that last part though

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile with Naruto_

**"**Well isn't this nice?" were the sarcastic words our young protagonist said once he looked himself at the mirror in the bathroom of his apartment.

Of course the first thing the young mage wanted to do when he transported himself to his apartment was to eat something, sadly the only thing he found in his fridge was some instant ramen that didn't manage to cover the hunger he had, but since it was already late just like his sensei said he decided to just take a shower and hit the bed a little early. It was just after taking his shower that the young blonde finally looked at himself in the mirror the bathroom had and he almost had to take a second look after seeing his reflection, after all his sensei wasn't lying, there definitely were some changes

For starters his hair, while his golden locks had not really changed that much, the two bangs that normally framed his face did made a little change in color since they were now completely black, just the same color of his sensei's hair. His eyes also changed a little bit since they were now a more dark type of blue instead of his normal sky-blue eyes, but the biggest change in Naruto's opinion was the fact that his whisker marks had completely disappeared from his face, leaving his sun-kissed skin without any marks

"Great, more things to explain to Sasuki and Shikamaru, although that guy will probably don't even bother in ask anything, thinking it would be troublesome" muttered Naruto before putting on his sleepwear, which was nothing but a simply black shirt and some shorts.

The young blonde sat himself in his bed, getting ready to sleep, but before doing that his whole experience with his shadow flashed itself in his mind, making Naruto think about what he found, or more like accepted, after defeating his shadow.

He had already accepted the fact that, even though he decided to not care anymore for his blood relatives, there was still a part of him that still resented them for their neglected towards him. He had been denying that part of him all along, thinking that not only he had stopped having any sort of feeling towards his former family, but that he had let go of his hate towards them when he decided to stop caring about them completely.

'I should have known better' thought Naruto, disappointed about the fact that he believed he was clean of feelings like rage when he thought of his former family. His meeting with his darkness had easily showed that there still was that part of him that wanted to punish his blood relatives for their neglect towards him, but he would not do it, he would not let the hate and rage his _family_ created in his heart to control his future, he would not let it transform him into a hateful monster, he knew he had those feelings in his heart since he had accepted them, and just like his sensei had told him he also knew that having those kind of feeling was normal, he was human after all, and that as long a he didn't let them control his future he could walk a path that would not end in sadness and despair, something that his sensei had told him was the sad yet most possible result of anyone who's whole life centered around revenge and the like

He didn't knew if he would ever let the resent and loathe he had towards his former family go, there was just too much of that in his heart at this point, but he had already lived fourteen years of his life without them, and he now had a family in Zeref so for him there was not really any necessity of let it go, there wasn't any necessity in forgive them, they had already lived fourteen years without caring for him so why would they even care if he hated them or if he forgave them?

'They wouldn't' thought Naruto, who decided that he didn't need them at all, after all they weren't this family, Zeref was, so why should he even care about forgiveness when they could give a rat ass about him? The young blonde simply decides that he could easily live his life as it was; it was too late to change anything at this point, even if his family actually found themselves missing him or wanting him back in their perfect family

"As if" were the last words Naruto muttered before finally falling asleep, his last thought of how ridiculous the simply idea of his family actually paying attention to him was

If only he knew

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

It was at the next day that you could find our blonde hero walking through the halls of the academy, annoyed for two reasons, the first one being the fact that he had to be here for two more months and the other reason was because he actually woke up later than normal and now he's late for class

The young blonde, seeing that it was late decided to just use the **_Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_** that he learned thanks to some scrolls in the library, appearing just outside the academy, after that he simply decided to walk towards his classroom, after all it wasn't like he was missing anything important

The young apprentice of Zeref finally reached his classroom, but of all things to expect he was definitely not expecting that every person in the room stopped doing what they were doing and just looked at him as soon as he entered. It was not only the students, but the instructor too; whose name if Naruto remembers well is Iruka Umino, a Chunin. Said man was right now doing the best interpretation of a fish Naruto had ever seen, opening and closing his mouth but without saying any words, although all of this weird act just made Naruto raise an eyebrow in suspicion

"Is there something wrong sensei?" asked Naruto politely, seeing how the scarred chunin managed to shallow the lump that had apparently formed in his throat before asking in a shaky voice

"Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze?" asked the chunin, which made Naruto blink twice, thinking that the changes he had in his hair and face were not that big for the instructor to doubt who he was, sure he had miss a week of class, but its not like he was a very active student in the first place, so what is with that reaction?

"Yes... is there any problem?" answered Naruto, and just on cue three figures appeared surrounding Naruto which of course tensed as soon as the figures appeared, he also kicked himself mentally for not sensing them sooner, but it was a little to late for that so the only thing Naruto could do at this point was imagining what the ANBUs wanted with him

"Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze?" asked one of the ANBUs, the one with silver hair and with the mask of a dog. Meanwhile Naruto almost rolled his eyes, after all he was sure that he just answered this question and that was the reason they appeared in the first.

"Yes" answered Naruto, his mind going a mile per hour, thinking of any reason for the ANBUs to be here for him. Could someone have found anything about his sensei or the training room? No, that was impossible, he made sure that no one was following him in the first place and that place was very well hidden, so what do they wanted?

"Hokage-sama has called you Uzumaki-Namikaze-sama, you must come with us" said another ANBU, this one with black hair and a weasel mask

As soon as the word Hokage was said Naruto became even more suspicious, but he did its best to hide it. He wasn't really thrilled so se his former father though, he just hoped he could end this fast enough and without revealing anything unnecessary

"Fine" said Naruto, wanting to deal with this fast. As soon as he did though the third ANBU; who was the only women of the three and had a snake mask, put her hand on his shoulder and disappeared along side him in a **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_**, her two companions using the same jutsu just a second later, their destination being the Hokage office in which both the Hokage and his wife were more than anxious in seeing their 'missing' son

Because of all of this Naruto did not have enough time to even start paying attention to the different reactions his classmates had once he entered the classroom. The most common one was of confusion followed by surprise. Although there were some other interesting ones like Shikamaru's, who's face was full of suspicion, or Hinata Hyuga, who's face was a mix of happiness and relieve, although as soon as a certain memory entered her mind that expression turned into one of both sadness and rage, something quite weird for the normal soft-spoken Huyga

Of course Naruto didn't notice neither the look of annoyance and the glare Menma had sent in his way or the look of pure joy Sasuki had once he entered the place, although that turned into one of worry once she saw the ANBUs take her blonde friend

He also missed the lone tear that had fallen from his sister eye

'Onii-san'

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Some minutes before, the Hokage's Office_

Sadness, regret, self loathe and despair. Those were the feeling that right now plagued the mind of not only the strongest ninja of Konoha, Minato Namikaze, but also the mind of the former jinchuriki of the Kyubi no Kitsune, Kushina Uzumaki.

Why would this two ninjas feel like that? The reason is that, for the past week they have been trying to find their first born child, Naruto, who has been missing for the past week.

"Where is he Minato-kun?!" all but yelled Kushina, who's normal violet eyes were now red and puffy from all the crying she had been doing. It has been a week already since Orochimaru talked to them about their son and since they decided make everything right with their first born course they decided to do that just the next day

Yes, Minato could remember that day perfectly

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_A week ago_

_It was just the day after the visit from Orochimaru that you could find both Minato and Kushina sitting in the living room of their house, once again pondering about their conversation with Orochimaru_

_The first thing that the two s-rank shinobi had decided was that they would start doing their best to reconnect with their son as soon as they could, which was the reason they woke up extra early this day. One of the things they decided to change immediately was to include Naruto in the training time their family had. For this purpose they decided that, even though today was an academy day, their children would not go since both Minato and Kushina decided to use this day as a good start to show their first born child that he was an important part of the family and that he was loved by them_

_For this to work well they decided to tell their other children first, since they could surely help them in make Naruto feel as a part of the family just like he was. This was the reason they were both waiting for their kids to come down, so that they could tell them the news about their brother now training with them. Of course a worry that both parent had was that Naruto was probably not at the same level of Menma o Mito, but then what Orochimaru said about Naruto hiding his strength and defeating Sasuki Uchiha easily flashed in their minds, so they also decided that today was a good chance to see if Naruto really had some sort of secret skills._

_It was after some minutes of them waiting that their three children, Menma, Mito and Natsumi, finally reached down to the living room, their youngest child had a sleepy expression while both Menma and Mito had a more confused expression in their faces, after all it was not normal for their parents to wake them up so early!_

_The three Uzumaki-Namikaze children sat in front of their parents, who were standing and looking at them with both pride and sadness. Menma was wearing his regular clothes for the academy, which were a blue sleeveless shirt, black ANBU pants and blue ninja sandals. Over his shirt he was wearing a white high-collar jacket that had the Uzumaki symbol in red in its back._

_Meanwhile Mito wore a short-sleeved, purple kimono-like blouse with a dark embroidered border that hugged her b-cup breast, held closed with a deep red obi, a dark skirt and stockings that stopped at her thighs along with blue ninja sandals, and just like her brother she also had the Uzumaki Clan symbol in the back of her blouse._

_Last but not least was Natsumi, who sat in between her brother and sister. She was also wearing a sleeveless kimono-style blouse that was black orange in color and held closed with a deep blue obi over a short-sleeved mesh shirt with a pair of dark blue shorts and blue shinobi sandals._

_The Uzumaki-Namikaze trio were looking at their parent, Menma with his arms crossed and Mito with her hands on her lap, both curious about what their parents wanted so early. Meanwhile Natsumi was still rubbing her eyes with her hands, doing her best to stay awake since she normally slept a little more than her brother and sister_

_"Children, yesterday your father and I made a decision that I'm sure will help our family a lot!" said Kushina with a loving smile directed at her children before looking at her husband and giving him a little nod, signaling him to continue from here_

_"We decided that, starting today your brother will now be joining use for training!" announced Minato with a care-free smile, expecting a lot of reactions from his three kids, but definitely not the ones he saw_

_Menma's eyes widened in surprise just before his face adopted an annoyed expression, apparently he was not amused by this news at all. Meanwhile Mito's eyes also widened at hearing the news, and after that she simply lowered her gaze and started muttering thing too low for anyone to hear. Natsumi on the other hand adopted a confused expression before she mover one of her fingers to her chin, apparently she was deep in thought about something. In the end it was Menma the one who was vocal about his thoughts, and both Minato and Kushina certainly did not expect what he said_

_"Why do we have to train with that loser?! He's just going to drag us down anyway!" spoke Menma quite angrily, after all the last thing he wanted to do was for him to lose his training time because her brother could not even throw a kunai correctly. Apparently this was the wrong thing to say though since both his parents gave him a mild glare, while his sister Mito gave him a colder glare, something that Menma ignored though_

_Meanwhile his little sister still had the same thinking expression from before, which just made her look cuter if you asked anyone_

_"Menma! That's not the way to talk about your brother!" reprimanded Kushina in a stern voice, her hands on her hips and an angry expression plastered on her face_

_"But is true! I'm sure that that loser can't even fight well! You haven't seen him in the academy; he can barely win his spars against the civilian kids. That's how weak he is!" Said Menma, his voice getting louder by every word. Of course he didn't want to train with that loser of his brother, he had to become strong and having his weak brother drag him down in his training time with their parents was not going to help him at all!_

_"Menma that's enough!" said Minato, quite angry at one of his sons speaking like that about his brother "It doesn't matter if Naruto is behind you in terms of training, he's still your brother and you will treat him with the respect he deserves!"_

_Its looked like Menma was a about to say something else to his parents, probably something bad about his brother if his previous statements were anything to go by, but he was stopped by a cold voice from his right, courtesy of none other than his sister Mito_

_"I suggest you to shut up Menma, before you say something that won't allow you to train for the day" threatened the young red-head, her violet eyes looking directly into her brother's blue ones, and Menma found himself actually gulping from that look she had, after all if there was something that really scared Menma, and Minato too by the way, was an angry Uzumaki girl._

_Not that Menma would ever admit it, even if his live depended on it_

_The young blonde jinchurikiki of the Kyubi ended up simply looking at the other way with "tch" escaping his mouth and a scowl on his face. After that Mito's attention went from his brother to his parents, an eyebrow raised in suspicion_

_"Kaa-san, Tou-san, not that I'm against it but why the change?" asked Mito, wondering about what made her parents interested in training her onii-san since they never showed any interesting him whatsoever._

_At hearing this question both Minato and Kushina adopted a sad expression, after all the shame they felt for forgetting one of their children was still fresh on their hearts in mind, and they knew that it would probably vanish completely_

_"We..." started Minato, looking at his wife and then at his children with a sad smile "...were made aware of a mistake we made and we're trying to fix it Mito-chan"_ _said Minato while putting his arm around Kushina, who looked almost ready to shred more tears_

_The young red-head seemed satisfied by that answer and decided to not touch the subject again for now, although she really wondered what was going to be her Onii-san's reaction to this and she could not stop the bad feeling she had when she thought about it. She just hoped that her Onii-san managed to become strong enough to protect himself_

_Mito shocked her head gently, trying to get rid of those thoughts, after all every time she thought about her brother she remembered the decision she made when se was seven and how bad she has felt every since._

_"Kaa-chan how does Naruto-Onii-chan looks like?" asked Natsumi with an innocent expression out of nowhere, which made both Minato and Kushina's eyes to widen and for Menma and Mito to raise an eyebrow at her question_

_In reality Natsumi had been trying to remember her other brother ever since the start of the conversation, but it was just now that she remembered Naruto's name, let alone remember how he even looks like, something that made her frustrated, although in her defense she sometimes forgets she had another brother since she haven't even talked to him in years._

_Both Minato and Kushina looked alarmed at one another since apparently their relationship with Naruto was not the only one who was bad at best. Menma seemed to resent him for something while Natsumi could not even remember him! It looked like Mito was the one with the best relationship with Naruto in the family and according to what Orochimaru said that relationship was not very good neither._

_This just brought even more sadness to both Minato and Kushina's hearts. Ho bad had they been as parents that they not only forgot about one of their children but they didn't even realize how Naruto had separated himself from their family_

_They found themselves once again vowing that they will make amend to their son no matter what._

_The oldest red-head realized a sigh before smiling toward her children, although both Mito and Menma could easily see that her smile was quite strained_

_"Natsumi-chan, why don't you go and wake up Naruto-kun so that we can start the day" said Minato, trying his best to redirect the question his daughter just made, after all he could not just tell her that both him and Kushina didn't knew how their son looked like for sure_

_This seemed like the right thing to say though, since little Natsumi nodded with a smile on her face before practically skipping towards the stairs leading to the second floor of the house while the rest of the family waited there in the living room_

_Minato and Kushina wanted to talk to Naruto before doing anything else today, to make sure that he knew they loved him and that they were sorry for not have been showing it as much as they should._

_It war after just a few minutes that Natsumi returned to the living room, although she did it with a shy look and without her brother_

_"What happened Natsumi-chan?" asked Kushina after getting closer to her daughter, concern evident in her voice_

_"I didn't want to make Naruto-Onii-chan mad at me by waking him up" answered Natsumi in a shy voice that was not normal for her at all_

_"I'm sure Naruto-kun won't get mad at you for that Natsumi-chan, but why don't we all go to wake him up?" said Minato with a loving smile directed towards his youngest daughter, although in the back on his mind the though that he really didn't knew how his son would react almost made him release a sigh._

_That answer got another happy nod from Natsumi who leaded not only her parent's but also Mito, who was really curious about how Naruto's room looked like, and Menma, who simply tagged along because there wasn't anything else he could do at this point_

_When the Uzumaki-Namikaze family reached Naruto's room it was Minato the one that knocked the door, expecting to see his son opening or saying something in any moment. After some seconds of nothing happening Minato knocked the door again but it was the same result, which actually made Kushina to worry a little_

_"Naru-kun its time to wake up" said Kushina while knocking the door, but just like when her husband did she got no answer, which made her look at her husband a little alarmed, but he only answered with a nod and a sigh, thinking that his wife was overreacting a little bit_

_"Naruto-kun we're going in" announced the oldest male of the family before opening the door and entering Naruto's room, and what they saw was definitely not what they were expecting_

_The room was, to put it simply, empty. The only thing it had was nothing but a bed, a bookcase that had no books at all and an empty wooden desk. The walls were completely white and had no poster or anything that suggested a fourteen year old boy lived here at all_

_Of course this just made not only Kushina alarmed and preoccupied, but also Minato, who walked around the room and saw the dust that was over both the bookcase and the desk, something that indicated no one used this room in a while_

_'But that's impossible' thought Minato, now sharing his wife worries about Naruto more than ever, but it was what Natsumi said next that really got the two adults in a state of panic_

_"Where's Naruto-Onii-chan?"_

_It was true; there was obviously no sign of Naruto in this room. Heck, there was not even a sign of him living here at all. Both Minato and Kushina looked at each other and they needed no words to know that the other one was thinking_

_Where was their son?_

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Back in the Hokage's office, some minutes before the ANBUs picked Naruto_

"I... I don't know Kushi-chan" said Minato while embracing his sobbing wife, feeling completely lost about what to do at this point

Of course the first thing both him and Kushina thought after seeing that Naruto was not in his room was that he had either woken up even more early than them and had gone out or that he had stayed in one of his friends house, which according to what Orochimaru had told them was restricted to Sasuki Uchiha since apparently she was Naruto's only friend.

They had ended up sending both Mito and Menma to the academy, telling them that as soon as they saw their brother they should tell him to go straight home with them, something that Mito rapidly accepted while Menma grumbled about good for nothing brothers

It took some effort from Minato but he managed to get Kushina to stay at home with Natsumi, after all they couldn't leave her alone and she was not starting the academy until next year, so it was only the Hokage that went towards the Uchiha district, or to be more specific towards the house of the head of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku Uchiha

Once he got there he was received by none other than a good friend of him and Natsumi's godmother, Mikoto Uchiha. Of course the first thing he asked was if his son Naruto had stayed here to sleep yesterday, to which Mikoto answered that he didn't and that she didn't even knew that her daughter was friend with Naruto

Sure, she knew that Sasuki had some sort of secret friendship with someone, although she would normally tease her daughter saying that it was a crush, which always got Sasuki all riled up with a heavy blush on her face, but Mikoto never knew the identity on this boy, but she had the hunch that her eldest son, Itachi, did knew about him.

After that and telling Kushina what Mikoto had told him he tried to do his best to calm a panicked Kushina, who was mumbling about all sort of crazy things that might have happened to her little Naru-kun

Seriously, the idea of some evil madman from another dimension kidnapping his son made him a sweat drop every time Kushina said it

Minato told her that he was probably at the academy and that as soon as he got home with Mito and Menma they would all talk about where he had been and why his bedroom was like that

Of course that conversation never happened since both Menma and Mito returned home after the academy, saying that Naruto had missed today's class. Now this really got Minato just as worried as Kushina, so he quickly called the ANBUs and told them to go and look for his son as fast as they could

Minato really hoped that the ANBUs, under the leadership of none other than Kakashi Hatake, managed to find Naruto fast, after all Kushina looked the worst she had ever being. She was not the only one worried though, since both Natsumi and Mito, although the later acted like she wasn't were quite worried too

If you asked Menma though he would just say he didn't give a crap

It was after the first whole day of having not even a signal of Naruto that things got really bad. Minato had assembled different party groups to search for their son in every part of Konoha and the area around the village, even in places like the Forest of Death. Every ninja that didn't had any urgent mission was practically tossed into the search groups, which included both Orochimaru and Tsunade of the sannin. Jiraiya would have probably helped too, but he was outside of the village at the moment.

The blonde Hokage could remember pretty well how his wife had almost cut Orochimaru into pieces when he suggested that Naruto had left the village just like he had warned. It took both him and Tsunade to stop the rampaging red-head from seriously attacking the pale sannin, although he just looked at them with an expression that practically said 'I told you so'

Even after all of these efforts they had not managed to find a single trace of Naruto anywhere, not even with the help of the different clans of Konoha like the Inuzuka or the Aburame who were now for their incredible tracking abilities.

Yes, it has been a hole week every since the search started and even though Minato didn't want to admit it the chanced of finding his son looked pretty low. He could not bring himself to say that to his wife though, since he knew that him giving up would only make everything worse for the now anguished Uzumaki women, who of course blamed herself for the disappearing of their son, after all if she had been paying more attention to him this might not had happened

Minato too felt the same, but sadly there was nothing they could do at this point but wait, wait to see if Naruto turned up and then find a way to mend their relationship with their son

The blonde Hokage was taken out of his thoughts by the arrival of an ANBU with silver gravity deifying hair and a dog mask, which Minato easily recognized at his last living student.

It was his words though, that sent a wave of relief over both him and his wife

"We found him!"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Back with Naruto_

If someone had told Naruto that he would be standing just in front of the doors of the Hokage Office while being guarded by two ANBUs (they were three but one of them went in to report first) before even becoming a genin he would have asked that person if he/she was going mental.

Of course sadly for him that proved to be the case right now since he was standing just outside of the Hokage's office, waiting for his ex-father to led him in

Naruto thought were going a mile per second. Of course he guessed that this was probably because of the free week he had, but he was sure that, of all people in the village, his biological parents were going to be the last one to notice him missing, even if it was for a week, but seeing how things were going he was apparently wrong.

That didn't matter to him though, he didn't really care what Minato wanted at this point, he just wanted this to be over as fast as he could so that he could go back at the academy or even to some training ground to train for a bit

A voice that Naruto recognized as Minato's took the young blonde out of his thoughts. Apparently it was now his turn to go in, so that he did, entering the Hokage's office with a neutral expression on his face and of course he was mildly surprised to see not only Minato but also his biological mother, Kushina, there too, and Naruto had to admit that she really looked worse to wear.

Both Minato and Kushina's widened in surprise after finally seeing their son, after all they were taken by surprise because of his appearance. The first thing that they noted was that he was quite tall for someone of his age, they were sure he was probably a few inches taller than Menma, and there was his hair that, while being spiky and blonde like both Minato and Menma, had two bangs that framed his face completely black. The last thing they noticed was that the whisker-marks he had before were not completely gone, making him look more like Minato than ever before.

Said Hokage was about to say something but was stopped by his wife, who's joy at finally seeing her sochi was to big to contain

"Naru-kun!" That really got Naruto by surprise, after all the first thing he heard as soon a he got in was that yell from his _mother_ who had already dashed towards him, her arms wide open, ready to give her son a bone-crushing hug

Of course Naruto didn't register this. What he saw was a woman who he had been unconsciously relating to emotional pain every since he was a child running at him. He didn't know if it was because of his training with Zeref or just his natural reflex, but just before the red-headed women got to him he moved out of the way at what had to be at least chunin like speed, making Kushina completely miss her hug and of course turn too see her son, her eyes reflecting a mix of emotions that Naruto ignored completely.

"I don't know what you were trying to do just there Uzumaki-san, but please refrain yourself from doing it again" said Naruto with a cold and emotionless voice while his expression remained as neutral as he could, which made both Kushina and Minato flinch at hearing that tone. In the end it was Minato the one that reacted first, since Kushina's gaze was still in Naruto and she seemed petrified, probably because of both Naruto's words and action

"Naruto that's not the way you should speak to your mother!" reprimanded Minato in a stern voice, although this seemed to have no effect in the young blonde. Said blonde's gaze now went from the unmoving red-head to him

"I assure you Hokage-sama that I'm treating her with the level of respect she deserves from my part" answered Naruto in the same cold voice, his face showing no feeling while in the inside he was both confused and angry. Confused at their behavior towards him and angry at Minato for trying to reprimand him of all things

Like he had the right to do anything like that

"Naru-kun..." whispered Kushina, obviously hurt from Naruto's word. The matriarch of the Uzumaki-Namikaze clan tried to get close to her son, but as soon as she moved Naruto too moved a step back, his body tense in case she or Minato did something

Naruto didn't trust neither of them, so it was to be expected that he would be ready just in case anything happened. In the end it was Naruto the one who continued the conversation; after all he had better things to do that just be around people which he didn't care about

"I was told you needed my presence Hokage-sama, I'm going to guess that this meeting has something to do with my whereabouts this past week?" asked Naruto, his tone and face showing no emotions. The eldest blonde blinked a couple of times before the question got registered in his mind

"Y-yes Naruto-kun, as a matter of a fact that is the reason for this." started Minato, his voice getting calmer "Where were you Naruto-kun? You got us all worried here! We have been searching for you for the whole week!" questioned Minato, wanting to know where in Kami's name his son has been spending the whole week.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Minato's words, they worried about him? 'Well that's a first' thought Naruto, who decided to use the lie he thought as soon as the ANBUs asked him to cooperate

"I was training" said Naruto, while crossing his arms in front of his chest, his voice and expression a complete copy of Zeref normal emotionless act

"But where?!" this time it was Kushina who almost yelled her question. This didn't get any reaction from Naruto though, whose gaze simply went from his biological father to the red-headed beauty

"The Forest of Death" was Naruto answer, which of course made both parent's eyes to widen of for Kushina so release a gasp

Of course they knew of the Forest of Death, practically every ninja in the village knew of that place and of how dangerous it was. Heck the only ones who actually liked spending time at that place was Orochimaru and his apprentice Anko Mitarashi. So it was not surprising to find both Kushina and Minato having a conflict of emotions inside of them

For Minato he felt both pride and disappointment, pride in his son for being strong enough to actually train in that place, which made Orochimaru's theory of him hiding skills quite a fact by this point, and disappointment at himself for not being the one that helped his son in his training

Meanwhile Kushina was, just like her husband, conflicted. On one part she felt completely relieved that her sochi had gotten out of there seemly safe, but on the other hand she was more than mad at him for going to such a dangerous place when he wasn't even a genin yet!

"WHAT?! What were you thinking Naru-kun?! You could have gotten hurt or even died there!" was Kushina's reaction, but if her outburst made Naruto waver he didn't show it. The only thing he did was to redirect his gaze from Minato to Kushina, his black blue eyes looking directly at her.

"I don't understand how where I train is anything of your concern Uzumaki-san" said Naruto, his voice cold as ice

"Of course is my concern sochi! How could you think its not?! I was worried sick about you! I thought something had happened to you!" answered Kushina, her sad violet eyes looking directly at Naruto's cold blue ones

"Naruto-kun we're your parents, your safety and happiness will always be our top concern so please don't think that we don't care" followed Minato, who was now standing just alongside his wife, a hand on her shoulder and a sad smile directed towards. This was definitely not going well, thought Minato, after all it looked like Naruto did have some resent towards them

After hearing those words Naruto lowered his head a little bit, his hair shadowing his eyes and some quite yet powerful words escaping his mouth

"You aren't..."

"What?" asked a confused Kushina with a frown, feeling like something really bad was a bout to happen

Oh how right she was

"You aren't my parents" said Naruto, this time looking directly at both Minato and Kushina, his voice and eyes actually becoming even more colder than before, it that was possible

"W-what? What are you saying sochi?" questioned Kushina, who could not believe her son's words. Minato too was left speechless by not only what he said but by the cold tone in which he had said it

"I said that you are not my parents" Naruto was, to say at least, mad. His fight against his shadow still fresh on his mind and now this two come along trying to pull something like this? No, Naruto would not let them, he would tell them exactly how he felt

"A father is not someone that ignores his son. A mother is not someone who neglects her child. A father is not someone that forgets about his son first day at the academy. A mother is not someone that forgets about her son's birthday for fourteen years. A father is not someone that locks the house while his son is still outside, forcing him to sleep in the streets!. A mother is not someone that never believes her child, calling him a liar every time he tells her how some drunk passerby attacks him! Parents are not people who, for fourteen years had never show once ounce of love towards their child" said Naruto and a calm and cold voice, a glare finally appearing on his face and his fist clenching in anger. How dare they say they are his parent's! They were never there for him! The only one that did is Zeref; he's the only one that he can call a family, not this couple of strangers in front of him

Meanwhile both Minato and Kushina were left speechless at Naruto's word, each one of them feeling like a heavy blow for them. Were they really that bad of a parent to him? Had they really failed so much that they made heir own son feel like that

Truly both Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki could not feel any worse than that; they felt like scum, garbage, like true shit

"That..." started Naruto while moving towards the door. He didn't want to be here, at this rate he was going to make something that he will regret. He couldn't, he needed to control himself before his magic exploded or worse "... is the reason why you aren't my parents... we might be related by blood, but that is where our relationship ends... for me you are nothing but strangers, people who's life I could not care less..."

The young blonde was already opening the door, and he was glad that neither Minato nor Kushina tried to stop him, why? he didn't care, he just wanted to live this place right now, too many things were still on his mind, but before leaving he still had some more words for them, he wanted to make sure they knew where they were standing towards him so that something like _this_ never happened again

"I have lived fourteen years without your care, support or love... what makes you think I want that now?"

And with that he left

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Well that, I have to say, was my hardest chapter to write. I believe it was a combination of both my laziness (and ps3...) and another idea I have for another fic (crossover between Fairy Tail and Naruto) that's got to my head and that I can't get rid off, so you will probably see a new fic of mine coming out soon**

**Once again thanks to all that left a review, followed or favorite this story. From now on I'll try to answer some question just before the start of the chapter, so feel free to leave question in the reviews (of course I won't answer anything that will ruin the story for you, where's the fun on that?)**

**I'm sure someone noticed, but the fight between Naruto and Shadow Naruto from last chapter was heavily based on the Persona 4 game. I also added Alcor to this fic in the last chapter, why? 'cause I love the Shin Megami Tensei games, so for those that have played those games you will probably recognize some characters that will appear in this fic. For those that have not played that games don't worry, you don't need to know them at all to enjoy this fic.**

**Next Chapter: A meeting with certain snake lady, memories of certain sister and we get some revelations from the gods themselves**


	7. Revelations

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama'**Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**Chapter 6**

**Revelations**

_A few hours later_

Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, apprentice of Zeref, dragon slayer of lightning, future Genin of Konoha was angry. No, scratch that, he was enraged. He was more than sure that if it wasn't because of his training he would have ended up attacking those stupid fools that dared to call themselves his parents

How dare they!? How could they, after all this years of them not giving a crap about him and treating him like he was less than dirt, tried to act like his parents? They had no rights! They couldn't just choose when to treat him like family and when to treat him like a stranger! Just the thought of them acting like if they where his family made him angry beyond believe.

It didn't matter though. For as long as Naruto was concerned they were not his family. He didn't care if they had a change of hearth or whatever. Just like he had said them back in the Hokage's office, he had lived fourteen years without them, and he definitely didn't need them now.

It was with these thoughts in mind that Naruto hit the training dummy that was in the training ground, _hard_, followed by a kick and another strong hit. The young blonde decided to use one of the multiple training grounds that existed in Konoha in order to vent his anger. While a part of him wanted to go back to the academy, he knew that in the state he was right now it would be better if he cooled of for the rest of the day. It's not like someone could force him to go to the academy anyway.

Normally Naruto would have gone to his normal training ground, but that place didn't have any dummies, and Naruto needed to break something before he broke _someone_ by accident. He was sure that if even one stupid civilian even dared to glare at him he would strike him to an inch of his life. It was for that reason that, after leaving the Hokage's office, he used a simply _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_ to get to this place.

Naruto stopped hitting the training dummy, who looked it had seen better days by the way, and started taking long breaths, trying his best to calm the raging emotions he was feeling. He knew after all that letting his rage to cloud his mind would make him do something stupid, it was one of the most important lesson that he learned under Zeref after all. Controlling his own emotions was one of the most important things he had to do since magic was heavily based on the emotions itself. So Zeref had made sure that Naruto knew how to control his actions and how to keep a calm mind in every situation.

The thoughts of his sensei actually made Naruto frown a little bit in suspicion. There was no way his sensei didn't know what was happening here. Naruto didn't know how but he was sure that Zeref had a way of getting information from the village. A spy probably, or maybe a powerful spell that made gather information easy, but Naruto didn't knew for sure, so he could only guess. That didn't change the fact that Zeref knew what was going on and decided _not_ to tell him. Zeref didn't even give him a warning! He promised to himself to get some answers as soon as he got to see his sensei again.

Naruto closed his eyes and while taking deep breaths. The young blonde really hoped that his former parents didn't try to do anything like today. That's one of the reasons for his parting words towards them. To make sure they understand he didn't want to have anything but the simplest relationship with them, and that was just because Minato was the Hokage so it wasn't like he could avoid the man. At least not if he wanted to become a ninja.

It was only thanks to Naruto calming down a little bit that he reacted in time to catch the kunai that was sent directly towards him. The kunai wasn't throwing with much force though, and he was sure he could throw faster than that

Naruto's focus went directly towards the figure that threw the kunai at him, his body tensed and more than ready to react to any action said person could do against him.

Naruto blinked once, and then twice again. The young blonde tried to hide it, but he was definitely surprised by the woman that right now has sitting in one of the branches of one of the multiple trees that were in this training ground. Now Naruto was not someone that could be surprised easily, considering that he had accepted the fact that something like magic and other world existed a long time ago but this woman had definitely surprised him. The reason for that it was because of her wardrobe, or to be more precise, the lack of it

Said woman had light brown, pupil-less eyes, and violet hair which was styled in a short, spiky, fanned-ponytail. She was wearing a tan overcoat with a purple in-seam, which has a pocket on both sides, and complete with a fitted mesh body suit that stretches from her neck down to her thighs, allowing Naruto to see the outline of her C-cup breast. She was also wearing a dark orange mini-skirt, as well as a Konoha forehead protector on her head, a small pendant that looks like a snake fang on a thick cord rather than a chain to and pale grey shin guards. She was also wearing a dark blue belt around her waist that connects to her skirt that has an appendage-like sash. Right now this woman was just sitting in a branch, her legs swinging and a smirk on her face.

A smirk that, for some reason that the blonde didn't get, made him shiver.

"Well, look what I found, a little blonde gaki" said the woman, looking at Naruto with a smirk on her face and a weird glint on her eyes. That combined with her words almost made Naruto's eyes to twitch in annoyance

Almost

The young blonde was about to retort, but we was forced to block an attack from said woman after she lunged at him with kunai at hand. Naruto blocked her attack with the kunai she had thrown, making a clang sound and resulting in a stand off between Naruto and the weird lady, who still had the same smirk in her face

In fact it looked like it had widened a little bit

"Well you aren't that bad... for a little kid" said the coat wearing woman in a mocking tone, getting Naruto's eyes to narrow a little bit. It was after a few seconds of their stand-off that both the blonde and the woman jumped backwards, creating a distance between them.

"What is the meaning of this? Who are you?" asked Naruto, wanting to know what was the reason for her sudden attack since he could easily see her Konoha forehead protector, which meant she had to be a Kunoichi of the village, so why attack him? He hadn't done anything as far as he was concerned that could result in an assassination attempt, so the young blonde decided to treat this situation carefully, not knowing in what kind of problem he might have gotten

Of course all seriousness of the situation disappeared as soon as the woman opened her mouth again

"So the gaki wants to know who I am. Fine then, I'll tell you!" said the woman with her hand on her hips "I'm no one but the amazing and sexy Anko Mitarashi!" finished the now revealed Anko, pumping a fist in the sky while some kind of weird explosion happened behind her, making her introduction even more weird

This time Naruto could not stop the twitching from his eyes or the sweat drop that appeared on his head. Sure he had asked who se was, but he didn't actually expect an answer from her. What kind of introduction was that anyway? And from where did that explosion even come from? Naruto would have asked, but for some reason he felt it was something that was better to left unknown.

"And to answer your other question" continued Anko with a big grin, not noticing, or caring, about Naruto's disbelieving expression "I simply wanted to see how you would react"

"React to what? Your attempt at killing me?" shot back Naruto, not letting his guard down yet and looking at Anko with a look of both disbelief and suspicion.

"Oh please, stop being such a cry baby. That was just for some fun. Besides if I wanted you dead..." started Anko, just before Naruto froze on his feets at the feeling of the cold sharp metal that was a kunai pressed at his throat.

"...you would already be dead" whispered the second Anko on Naruto's ear just before the Anko that was in front of him turned itself into nothing but mud.

'A clone!' thought Naruto, slapping himself mentally for letting someone get to him like this. Even if his state of mind was not the best right now it was not an excuse, or at least that's what Naruto believed.

It was after a few seconds that the feeling of the kunai disappeared from Naruto's neck. The young blonde turned around slowly, his hard gaze directed towards Anko's eyes. Said woman was simply twirling the kunai she used before in her hands. It was after a few seconds of simply staring at each other that Naruto releases a sigh, knowing that violet haired Kunoichi was right, she could have easily kill him back then, but she didn't, which made the attempt of assassination theory crumble.

It raised a lot of other questions though

"Is this some kind of hobby of yours? Attacking random people just to see how they react?" Naruto had to admit that he was curious about her motivation for this since as far as he was concern she was doing this just because she felt like it

And that was not a pretty good thought. Ninjas going around, launching mocking attack at other people just because they were boring

Yes, definitely not a good thought.

"Of course not!" Answered Anko with a huff, crossing her arms under her chest, which made them look a little bigger "It's more of a stress reliever than a hobby" And that answer almost made Naruto face-fault. Now the young blond was cursing himself mentally once again, this time for getting the attention of someone whose idea of stress reliever was a crime.

"So... where were you?" asked Anko out of nowhere, her face turning serious all of a sudden, and even though Naruto had an idea of what she was asking since it was quite obvious after his conversation with his former parents that they had made ninjas like her search for him for the past week.

"I don't see how's that any of your business Anko-san" replied Naruto in a neutral tone, not wanting to reveal a lot to this woman he just met, although he was more than ready to just say the same thing he said before about his location this pas tweek

"Considering the fact that I wasted a week of my time searching for you, I think it is of my business" shot back Anko with the same serious face just before it morphed into a smirk with a weird glint on her eyes "Of course if you don't want to tell me I can always find a way of making you talk, after all I can be quite... convincing"

Now that made Naruto a little worried about himself, not only because of what she said, but because of how her eyes were looking at him like he was nothing but a pray to her. The young blonde didn't know if the woman was bluffing, and normally such an empty threat would not affect him, but there was something about her that told him that she could do stuff to him

Nasty stuff

"Well if you must known" said Naruto deciding that it was easy to lie to het that provoking her in doing something "I was in the Forest of Death" The young blonde decided not to tell her what he was doing, she had just asked for his location after all

At hearing this Anko's face became completely blank and she just stood there, not saying anything. The young blonde was about to say something about her reaction or lack of one, but the brown-eyed woman beaten him to the punch.

"Bullshit"

"Excuse me?"

"I said bullshit. There is no way you could have been in the Forest of Death for the whole week" said Anko, her eyes narrowed in suspicion at him and Naruto had to do his best to match her gaze, after all he didn't want her to know he was lying, even though she apparently didn't believe him

"Even if you were strong enough to survive that place for a whole week, which I doubt, Me and my sensei were responsible of searching for you on that area and let me tell you something, if we didn't find you there its because you _weren't_ there" Said Anko with a triumphant grin, knowing that the blonde gaki in front her was lying through his theets.

Said blonde had to do his best to avoid showing any reaction that might show she was right. 'Damn" he thought 'I should have known that someone might not believe me that easily... in fact I should be surprised about the fact that those two fools actually believed me'

"Maybe you don't know that place as well as you think" replied Naruto, getting an angry scowl from Anko. How dare this little runt insinuate that she didn't know the place that was practically her house!

"The fact is that that is the true, whether you believe or not it's not of my concern" said Naruto, deciding that it was best to end this conversation right now before she started asking more problematic questions. The young blonde turned around and started walking out of the training ground, his body still tensed in case Anko tried something. Luckily for him the coat wearing beauty didn't so Naruto had no trouble leaving, hoping that he would not have to deal with someone like her anytime soon

If he had turned at least once though, he would have seen the calculative gaze Anko had towards combined with a small grin that promised trouble for the future

Poor boy

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

It was at the next day that you could find Naruto eating on the rooftop of the Academy, enjoying the rest that was the launch break that this place had.

Yesterday was definitely one of the most annoying days for the young blonde. Even if you excluded his confrontation with his former parents there was still the fact Zeref told him not to come to the training room, which practically got ridden of the place Naruto spent most of his time. His first thought was to go back to his apartment and maybe just sleep a little bit or eat something, but a sudden thought had stopped him from doing that. What if he was being followed by ANBUs? While he could easily detect someone that had not been trained properly in the art of stealth (Sasuki for example), he was sure that he wouldn't be able to detect if an ANBU of all people started following him, and considering that he went missing from a whole week and his former parents new found interest in him the idea of some ANBU or maybe even Jounin keeping an eye on him was completely possible, and of course the young prentice of Zeref would not risk anyone knowing anything related to his sensei if he could help it

So Naruto ended up spending most of his time that day in the academy, just reading some books that he found interesting. The young blonde decided that he would have to find a way to step u his ninja training since, in comparison to his magical training, it was mostly just the basics. Sadly for him the library didn't have a lot about jutsu, just the most simple's elemental techniques and the different exercises to practice elemental manipulation. Of course Naruto didn't know his elemental affinity, although he guessed that lightning might be one of them in the case he had more than one, so it wasn't much the young blonde could do unless he got his hand on some chakra paper, which was highly unlikely, so Naruto ended up simply memorizing the step of every exercise to practice them later, since he read that it would help his chakra control, which was, in Naruto's opinion, quite good. The young apprentice of Zeref had already mastered water walking and was now doing the kunai balancing exercise while being on water, something that he found quite challenging

Naruto spent his time in the library until it got quite late, and since he was still paranoid about the idea of some ANBU tailing him the young dragon slayer had no choice but to go to his former house. Of course that presented the problem of having to be in the same house as his blood relatives, but Naruto simply decided that he will ignore them completely and hoped that they would do the same

It wasn't that easy though

As soon as he had gotten home he was greeted by none other than Kushina, who looked worse to wear. She looked like she had been crying all day, her eyes red and puffy. The young blonde didn't know nor care where the rest of his family was, although he guessed that Minato was probably doing some last minute paperwork or something like that. Naruto believed that Kushina had wanted to say something to him, considering how her mouth opened and closed as soon as he entered the house. He didn't care about anything of that though, so he had simply given her a stiff nod before ignoring her completely and going straight to his former room, missing the way fresh tears escaped her eyes

Naruto was just glad that no one else had bothered him that night, and that, like always, he had woken up earlier than them, which made quite easy the task of acting oblivious of their existence.

He had sat himself in the same seat he always had in the Academy, and just like he predicted Sasuki had wanted some answers as soon a she got in the classroom. Naruto had barely managed to convince her to wait until lunch to hear his explanation. Class became a little more annoying for the young blonde; after all he could feel the multiples looks he received from his fellow classmates. Luckily for him no one tried to ask him anything, although he had to say that receiving a glare from an angry Sasuki Uchiha since the start of class was definitely not something he wanted to experience for the few months he still had to spend on the Academy.

Naruto was taken out of his thoughts when someone made itself known in front in him. Naruto was sitting in the ground, so this person was blocking the sun from hitting him quite a bit. When the young blonde looked up he was greeted by the scowling form of his best female friend (which wasn't saying much), Sasuki Uchiha.

The young raven haired girl was standing just in front of Naruto, her arms crossed over her developing chest, her eyes in the form of a vicious glare that would probably make a lot of the other boys and girls from of his age, and probably some adults too, to shiver in fear and her right foot taping the ground, obviously showing that she was impatient for some reason.

For a few moments both Naruto and Sasuki just looked at each other in the eyes, emotionless blue meeting angry black, without saying anything. Of course Naruto knew what se probably wanted, but it wasn't his style to start a conversation, so he would just let het ask what she wanted to ask and answer as truthfully as he could, without revealing anything about Zeref that is

"Well?" asked Sasuki, her voice low and with an edge on it, making it quite obvious that any wrong answer might receive a powerful fireball in response.

"Well what?" was Naruto's comeback. Now even though the young blonde would normally not do this kind of stuff, he had to admit that getting on Sasuki's nerves was one of the few enjoyable things he had.

"Stop playing games with me Namikaze! Where the hell were you this past week!? All but yelled Sasuki and Naruto could swear he heard her growl after it.

Said blonde, deciding that it was best to stop annoying the violent young woman, stopped eating and started telling his little story, adding more details, knowing that it would stop Sasuki from getting too suspicious. Naruto told her how he had gone into the Forest of Death to train from a week. He told her how that was something he had been planning to do for a week.

During the whole tale Sasuki's eyes remained in her glare and she had stopped tapping her foot. Her eyes had widened for a second when he told her about the Forest of Death before going back to her angry eyes. It was after finishing his story that Naruto saw a change in Sasuki's body lowered her head, making her hair shadow her eyes, before speaking in a voice as low as a whisper

"Baka..." Said Sasuki, in a voice so low Naruto barely heard her. Now this actually made Naruto worry, after all he was expecting some yelling and a little bit of cursing from her part, not this, so the young blonde stood up and put his hand on her shoulder, his face a mask of calmness but you could see and hear the worry in his eyes and voice

"Sasuki..." was the only thing Naruto manage to say before the young black eyed girl actually lunged at him. Of course the young blonde was not expecting this, so there was nothing he could to stop himself from falling backward in the floor of the rooftop, his head hitting it _hard_, which made him close his eyes.

When Naruto opened his eyes his normal emotionless expression was replaced by one of actual shock and surprise. The reason for that was because of the angry form on Sasuki that was above him, her hands supporting her at each side of his face and her face just a few inches away from his. Her eyes were even fiercer now, but Naruto could swear that he saw them a little moist, something that surprised Naruto even more, after all he had never seen Sasuki cry.

"You baka" Sasuki's voice was that of a whisper, but Naruto could feel both the anger and sadness in it "I thought something had happened to you. I was worried sick about you. The only thing people told me when I asked is that you had simply gone missing! _Missing!_ For a whole week Naruto! For a moment I thought something terrible had happened to you, you big baka! I heard Onii-sama saying that you have probably been kidnapped or worse, _killed!_ And yet here you are, telling me that you were simply training for the whole week in a place like The Forest of Death! Onii-sama and Okaa-sama told me about that place! What in Kami's name were you thinking in going to a place like that alone!? Why didn't you tell me!? Why do you keep hiding stuff from me like that!? Aren't we supposed to be friends!?" Sasuki's voice became louder after every word to the point she was practically yelling at him

All of it was true. Sasuki had been more than worried for her blonde friend every since he missed Academy at the start of the week. It didn't help that her Onii-sama could not tell her anything about how the search went. Whatever she had heard it was just because she overheard it. Of course Naruto's explanation had definitely not help the poor girl at all, so her reaction wasn't really surprising.

Meanwhile Naruto finally understood his friend reaction. Every since he had met the girl he had believed that she saw him as nothing but an acquaintance, or maybe just a sparring partner. Even when he had said that they were friends Naruto had believed that he was the only one that considered their relationship as such. But if her words and behavior just now were any indication then she too saw him as a friend. Now that just made Naruto felt like a real baka, just like she had said. He had hurt her even though he had not done it on purpose. He knew he had to fix this, after all, besides Zeref, Sasuki was his most important person in this village, and seeing her hurt like this was something that he definitely didn't like at all.

"I'm sorry" Were the only words Naruto could say at this moment. While he definitely wanted to fix this he didn't knew how. It was not something that made the young blonde proud but when it came to things like this he was definitely inexperienced

It's not like his sensei had prepared him to deal with angry or sad females.

At hearing his words Sasuki just looked at him directly at his eyes, apparently looking for something. What, Naruto didn't know, but she had apparently found it since she just released a sad sigh before speaking

"Just... don't do it again" said Sasuki while rubbing her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, and Naruto found himself vowing to do his best to never make Sasuki sad again. After all if there was something Zeref had taught him was that you had to do your best to protect the people you care about, and Sasuki was definitely on the top of that list of people.

"I'm I interrupting something? You two might want to go to somewhere more private" said a voice that surprised both Naruto and Sasuki. Said voice turned out to be none other than Shikamaru Nara, who was looking at them with his normal lazy gaze. However what he said finally made both Sasuki and Naruto realize what kind of position they were. Sasuki was straddling Naruto's waist while the blondes hand had found their way towards Sasuki's hips. There was also the fact that their faces were too close to each other

Yes, definitely a position that would make people misunderstand

With a something that sounded like a squeak Sasuki jumped out of Naruto's grasp, her face as red as a tomato and her eyes looking at everywhere but her blonde friend while Naruto simply stood up, not seeing what the big deal was. Meanwhile Shikamaru simply shook his head, muttering something about troublesome blondes and girls

It was after a few minutes that the trio found themselves eating calmly in the rooftop, although Sasuki would sometimes look at Naruto for a few seconds before blushing a little bit and looking away with a huff. Meanwhile the young blonde was just happy that he didn't have to explain anything else

Or at least that what he thought

"So, Naruto, what happened to your hair... and eyes... and those whisker marks that were on your cheeks?" asked Shikamaru, getting the attention of Sasuki who looked very interested in what Naruto's answer was going to be

Meanwhile the young blonde could not contain the sigh that escaped his lips at hearing that question; he should have known that nothing was _that_ easy

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, in the Uzumaki-Namikaze residence_

Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze was feeling completely horrible with herself. And how could she not? The conversation she had with her son was still haunting her mind, in fact she actually shed some tears every time she thought about it. And she had ended up coming with one simply conclusion.

He hated her. Her baby boy hated both her and his father. Just that mere thought made her hearth twist painfully. How terrible of a mother could she have been to him to the point of him hating here that much? She had tried. She had tried all day long to think of any moment in which she had actually been with her oldest son, but she came out with nothing. It was something she couldn't understand, every time she tried to remember anything related to Naruto everything became blurry, almost like he hadn't existed before. But that was ridiculous, so Kushina could do nothing but blame herself for driving her son to the point in which he wanted nothing to do with her and Minato

She had been a disaster yesterday. After hearing Naruto's words she had done nothing but to cry on Minato's shoulder. Her husband had tried to act calm by telling her that everything was going to be alright and that they would fix this, but Kushina was not fooled. She could see how Naruto's words had hurt him just as much as it hurt her. But Minato wad right. They were going to fix this. They _had_ to fix this. They owed Naruto that much. She was going to find a way to make amends to him. She just couldn't bare the fact that one of her son hated her, but she knew that it was both her and Minato's fault, so she will do everything in her power to fix her relationship with her son.

She was an Uzumaki after all, and if there was something Uzumaki's cared about the most it was their family. She had already failed as a mother to Naruto. But she wasn't going to fail again. She was his mother, whether he liked or not, and she was going to do her best to repair their relationship. It didn't matter if she ended up hurting herself a lot in the process, she would be there for her son, no matter what

What Kushina didn't know was that her husband was having similar thoughts back in his office. So she wasn't going to be the only one trying her best to make amend to Naruto.

Sadly for both Kushina and Minato they would never known that the real reason for their neglect on their son was because of a bigger plan. A plan in which they were nothing but pawns whose task was already fulfilled

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office_

Just like his wife, Minato Namikaze was having some thoughts about his relationship with his eldest son, Naruto, or to be more precise the lack of one.

What in Kami's name had made him ignore his son to the point of Naruto denying him as his father? What has gotten into his mind? How could he have done something like that? What kind of father was he? Those were the thought that plagued the Hokage's mind right now, showing that just like his wife he was deeply ashamed of his action towards the eldest of his triplets.

And how could he not be? His children were his pride and joy and yet he had mistreated one of them to the point of him not wanting anything to do with his family. Minato sighed before looking at the picture of his family that he always had in his desk. Now normally this picture would always bring a smile to the powerful shinobi, but this time it did nothing but to bring even more shame and sadness to him. The reason for that was because in this particular picture you could se both him and his wife happily smiling, while in front of them were Menma, Mito and Natsumi, the three of them showing different amount of happiness. It was taken the day that both Menma and Mito started the Academy. But it was only yesterday that Minato noticed what was wrong with this _perfect_ image of his family

Naruto wasn't in it

Minato released a sad sigh, rubbing the bridge of ho nose with his fingers. It was in moments like this that he would ask for advice to his sensei or his predecessor, but Jiraiya wasn't in the village because of his spy network and he didn't feel comfortable talking about it with Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Kami knows how the man known as God of Shinobi would react to a father neglecting his child

Minato was sure of something though. He would find a way to earn his son's forgiveness just like he had told his wife. He knew there had to be a way, even though it would probably be hard Minato had the hope that Naruto would found in his hearth to forgive them if they showed that they truly regretted what they had done.

With another sigh the blonde man started once again working in his paperwork. Now while normally it was something Minato hated with passion, this time he found it distracting enough. Something that would made him forget a little about the entire problem he now had.

At the end of the day though, his problems will always come back to haunt his thoughts.

And he had no other choice but to accept that

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Back at the Academy_

Mito Uzumaki-Namikaze was a confused and conflicted young lady. Of course this didn't show in her appearance but in her thoughts. And all of her thoughts right now were of no one but her dear Naruto-Onii-san

Don't make mistakes. Mito loved her whole family. Even if Menma could be annoying sometimes she knew he had a good and loyal hearth. Sadly that went out of the window every time the subject of Naruto touched Menma, something that Mito could not understand. They were both brothers right? So why Menma had to insult her Naruto-Onii-san every time he could? That really pissed of the young red-head. After all if there was something that she disliked more than anything else in this world it was when someone insulted her dear brother

Now this might confuse a lot of people, after all if you were to ask anyone they would say that the relationship between Mito and Naruto was strained at best. While this was in fact true (Some would say 'strained' was not the right word) it didn't reflect Mito's true feelings towards her brother at all.

And what were those feelings? Simple, they were of nothing but love and concern. Yes, Mito loved her brother with all her hearth. In fact this past week had been one of the hardest for the young red-head. She almost had a panic attack once her parents had told her that Naruto had gone missing. Mito was not dumb of course. She knew exactly how bad the relationship between Naruto and her parents were. Heck, she was pretty sure that Naruto didn't even live in the house anymore. In fact the only reason Mito had not told her parents or even questioned Naruto himself was because she at least saw him at the Academy almost every day. In fact at her first year in the Academy she had even threatened some boys, who were lead by Kiba Inuzuka, that if they ever bullied Naruto they would meet her fury.

Sufis to say that the boys were too scared to even consider bully Naruto

Now you may wonder, why she acted the way she did towards Naruto if she in fact cared about him a lot. The answer to that brought nothing but shame and regret to the young red-head. It was definitely a decision that she had regretted every since she was convinced of acting so cold towards her brother, just like the rest of her family.

It was something that happened after hearing a conversation between her Tou-san and her perverted godfathers/unofficial grandfather. She wasn't supposed to hear it at all, but the young red-head had ended up spying on them after hearing them talking in her Tou-san's office from the kitchen.

To put it simple, they both talked about how a group of S-Rank criminals called Akatsuki were going to hunt the Jinchurikis in order to get the power of their Bijuus Kami's know for what reason. Now hearing that a group formed of people so strong were hunting people like you was something that deeply affected young Mito a lot, and considering the fact that she was just seven when she heard it, it was definitely something that would rock her world a lot.

It was with that news and the still fresh memories of the nightmare she had before, which was the reason she had gone to the kitchen in the first place, which actually consisted on her losing control on the Kyubi's power and attacking her family that the young violet-eyed girl tried to sleep.

It was more than obvious that she didn't sleep very well

No. It wasn't because of the fact that she couldn't sleep at all. In fact she actually felt asleep quite fast. No, it was because of what happened once he felt asleep. At the beginning she had thought it was just another weird nightmare, but such an event could not be described as a dream

After all it was the first time she met the Kyubi sealed inside of her.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Unknown Place, 7 years ago_

_A seven year old Mito was nothing but confused and a little scared. Why? Because she had just gotten to sleep after hearing some shocking information that she was sure she shouldn't have heard, but as soon as she closed her eyes she found herself in one of the weirdest places she had ever been_

_This place could be described as a long corridor, with completely white walls, ceiling and floor. The walls were divided in sections by silver pillars. In each section you could find a little light ball just at the middle of it, illuminating the whole place. Just above each little light was the symbol of the Uzumaki clan. The whole place looked like it was made or marble._

_Mito was more than confused at seeing this place, after all she had never been here in her life. How had she gotten here in the first place? Wasn't she in her house a few seconds ago? For a moment she thought this might be another dream, but she scratched that possibility rather quickly, after all this place felt just too... real, to be called a dream_

_The young red-head didn't know why, but she felt like something was calling her at the end of the white path. Not knowing what else to do at this point the young girl started walking with trepidation towards what she believed was the deepest part of this strange place._

_It was after walking for a few minutes that Mito found herself in front of something she wasn't expecting: A cage. Said cage was as big as the room itself and it had completely black bars. Just at the middle of the cage was what looked like a piece of paper with something written on it that looked like the kanji for 'seal'_

_**"So, my dear jailer finally decides to show herself in front of me" **__spoke a deep voice from the cage, almost making Mito to jump in surprise. Just after hearing those words a big pair of red eyes appeared inside of the cage, followed by a set of razor teeth in the form of a big, menacing grin. Now while Mito was not a scary-cat, this was still something that made her eyes widen in surprise in fear, after all she didn't have any idea of what this thing was._

_Apparently her young mind had decided to ignore the fact that there were bars between them_

_**"What happen little girl? Did the fox eat your tongue?"**__Spoke once again the weird being, chuckling quite darkly at seeing the little human to paralyze in fear. Meanwhile Mito was doing her best to try and calm her nerves to try to produce some words that weren't screams of panic_

_She was failing a little bit though_

_"W-who are y-you" asked the girl quite meekly, something that was not common for her, but considering the circumstance it was understandable. However this question got nothing but a growl from the being behind the bars, making the young red-head a little more nervous than she already was_

_**"Great. The little runt doesn't even know who's sealed inside of her. Of all humans that stupid Hokage could have sealed me inside of he had to do it in a dumb tomato girl that's about to piss herself. Why don't you use that head of yours and figure out by yourself, unless that's a task too hard for an hairless monkey like you" **__said the monster, his red eyes looking at Mito like she was nothing but a little ant that he would step on just for fun_

_If only he could_

_It took a few moments for the words to register in Mito's mind, but when they did she started putting everything together. The fact that she had fallen asleep just before getting here. How weird this place was and felt. The big cage with the seal tag on and of course, the angry looking being in front of her._

_"You're the... Kyubi" announced Mito, her voice barely above a whisper, but it was apparently high enough for the now revealed Kyubi no Yoko to hear, considering how his grin became even wider_

_**"Well it looks like there's still hope for you, you little dimwit. I can only hope you won't be a dumb as that other walking tomato bitch that you call mother was, Kami knows this world doesn't need more people like her going around." **__said the Kyubi, his voice dripping nothing but malice. This time though, the different insults finally got to Mito's head, both these ones and the previous ones, and to say she was pissed of would be an understatement_

_"You take that back!" yelled the angry red-head, obviously not liking the different insults directed at her and her mother. Mito was definitely not as hot-heated like Menma was, but not even her could just stand there while someone like the Kyubi of all beings started insulting her family. The fear that Mito felt before was no replaced by both anger and confidence. That confidence was the result of her knowing that the Kyubi could not do anything to harm her because of the seal, which meant she was completely safe here_

_Or are least that what she hoped_

_**"Ohh, looks like the little runt here likes to bark. Please tell me little girl, what will you do if I don't? Yell at me until your lungs go without air? Let me tell you something little girl, I had the horrible pleasure of hearing your mother having you**___**and**_**making you with that blonde monkey you call a father, so at this point I'm immune to your Uzumaki bitche's screams and moans" **__mocked the Kyubi, his voice getting a tone of disgust at the end of it. That had to be one of the fox more horrible experiences in his long life, having to hear his former jailer and her mate go at it like bunnies in heat. It was just his bad luck that the seal would become weak enough for him to hear and sometimes feel what Kushina was experiencing while mating. He didn't even what to think about how his first jailer was with that stupid __**Mokuton (Wood Release) **__user._

_She was worse!_

_Of course that declaration made Mito blush completely red, making her face actually resemble a ripped tomato. She knew what the Kyubi was talking about, after all her mother had already given her 'The Talk'. Of course she never imagined that this was going to be the theme of her first conversation with the bijuu sealed in her gut. The young red-head shock her head, tying to get rid of what the Kyubi just said and started taking some calming breaths, knowing that if she lost her temper the damn fox would just keep mocking her_

_"Where are we anyway?" asked Mito, deciding to not let the Kyubi to get a raise from her. Of course the young red-headed girl had an idea of where they were, but she wanted to get a confirmation from the Kyubi, who just scoffed at hearing that question_

_**"And here I was thinking you had a brain, I guess I shouldn't had gotten my hopes so high" **__cue for angry glare from Mito, although the Kyubi either didn't notice or didn't care__**" If you must know, this place is your subconscious"**_

_"But how did I ended up here?" asked Mito to herself, after all she knew that to enter once subconscious you needed a lot of practice in different arts, something that she had yet to have_

_**"I called you" **__replied the Kyubi, getting a surprised expression from Mito. Just after that the powerful bijuu moved so that Mito could see his whole body, including the nine-tailed that gave him his name behind him. He was just as her mother and father had described him, the only difference was that his fur was brown instead of orange, something that confused her_

_"And why would you do that? And how did you even manage to do something like that? Tou-san's seal shouldn't let you!" asked Mito, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Of course both her and her brother had tried to get in contact with the Kyubi before during training with their parents, but neither of them had managed to do it, so why would the Kyubi call her like this? It made no sense in her opinion_

_**"Well, lets just say that your inner turmoil let an opening in the seal "**__answered the Kyubi, getting a shocked expression from Mito. Of course what Mito didn't know was that the Kyubi was not telling her the complete true. In reality the seal of the Shinigami, for some reason, became weaker a few moments ago, just after he received a visit from that weird servant of his. The guy had said nothing, he just smiled at him before tweaking the seal a little bit, letting the Kyubi know what his jailer had just found about the Akatsuki. Of course the Kyubi had demanded an explanation from the white haired man, but the only thing he got was an introduction, an annoying smile, him altering the seal and then practically threatening him about revealing what he done here, just before winking and leaving like he was never here to begin with_

_Now this left a completely confused Kyubi, who ended up deciding to not look at the horse's mouth. After all it's not like he could question the man again. So the powerful bijuu simply decided to accept the gift he got and call her jailer here, after all if there was an organization hunting Jinchurikis then he needed to make sure his jailer wasn't as weak as he believed she was, after all if she got caught it probably meant death for the him._

_And he pretty much liked to live, even if he had to tolerate the stupid females of the Uzumaki clan._

_**"And about my reason to call you here, well I believe it's quite obvious at this point don't you think? Akatsuki" **__revealed the Kyubi, lowering his head so that it was at the same level of Mito's body, his red eyes looking directly at Mito's violet._

_**"Well? What are you going to do about the group of psycho ninjas you have on your tail, little girl?"**_

_"I'll face them of course. If they try to get me then I will train hard to be able to beat them! I won't let a group of criminals hurt me of my family just because of you!" answered Mito quite passionately; after all she wouldn't let anyone harm her family. She would protect them!_

_**"Is that so? Well let me be the one with the revelation then: at this rate you won't be strong enough to face them"**_

_"What do you mean by that? I know I'm not strong enough yet, but if a keep training I will..." Mito's speech was stopped because of the angry growl the Kyubi made. Apparently the bijuu was not amused by Mito's word, and he would make it quite clear_

_**"Training? while I'll admit you might get strong enough if you train, there still one factor that's holding you down little girl, and we both know who is it: that useless older brother of yours" **__said the Kyubi, getting another shocked expression from Mito. Said expression went from shocked to one of complete rage quite fast though_

_"Leave Naruto-Nii-san out of this! And don't you dare talk about him like that!" screeched Mito, a hateful glare directed at the Kyubi's eyes, who didn't even seem surprised by the young girls reaction. Who could he be surprised considering that in the little time that man had altered his seal he had looked at some of his jailers thoughts and memories and he was tired of how almost all of them were centered on that brother of her! She was borderline obsessed about him at this point! And there was no way the Kyubi would let this go, after all it was a distraction that he could not let the girl had_

_**"You know I'm right little girl. How are you supposed to get strong when you spent almost every second of your live thinking about that Naruto brother of yours? For Kami's sake, you even skip training sometimes with a lame excuse just to spend time with him! Well that needs to end! My survival depends on you getting strong enough you little monkey, so I won't have you going all weak just because you have an obsession on your brother!"**__said the Kyubi with a snarl, both of his claw/hands grapping the bars of the cage tightly._

_Meanwhile Mito became red-faced at hearing the Kyubi's rant; whether it was because of anger or embarrassment the Kyubi didn't know nor care." I'm not obsessed with my brother!" said the girl, although it was quite obvious that the Kyubi didn't believe her" And he needs me! He doesn't have anybody else in the family" ended Mito sadly with a downcast look. What she was saying was true after all. Mito wasn't stupid, she knew that her brother was treated unfairly by both her parents and her other siblings. She had tried to change that by talking to her parents but whatever she said concerning Naruto always ended in deft hears. Menma wasn't helping at all and she was doing her best so that Natsumi wouldn't end up like him, which was quite difficult. In the end Mito had decided to do her best so that her brother felt at least some love in the family, which was the reason she spent a lot of time with him. She loved her Naruto-Nii-san deeply and seeing him sad because of their parents of Menma always brought sadness to her heart._

_Meanwhile the Kyubi had decided to change his approach here. He should have known this girl cared too much for that Naruto monkey. But maybe he could use that to his advantage? Yes, indeed he could_

_**"It seems you're not getting it in that thick skull that you call a head. Let me explained so that even an idiot like you can understand**_**"**_cue for another glare from the girl__**"This Akatsuki organization won't stop at nothing to get to you. You know what that means? It means that they will do anything to catch you! I'm sure they are not above taking hostages..."**__said the Kyubi, and it only took a few seconds for Mito to understand what he meant by that, which got a gasp and a horrified expression from her, which made the Kyubi to chuckle mentally_

_**"It seems you're finally understanding little girl. Now while I'm sure that brother of yours who has my other half and your sister will be able to stand a chance considering that they are being train by your parents, your other brother is a different case. He's being trained by no one. He will be an easy prey for the Akatsuki, especially if they know that by getting him they would be able to get to you."**__revealed the powerful Bijuu, his eyes looking at how stricken Mito looked at the information she just got_

_Meanwhile the young girl was thinking about the words of the Kyubi. He was right, she thought. If there was really an organization of S-class Nin hunting her and Menma then the rest of her family was in danger! And Naruto was, even though she hated to admit her, the easiest of them to capture. What could she do to protect him? She already tried to tell her parent to include Naruto in the training but, just like always they didn't heard her. What if something happened to her Nii-san because they were looking for her? She would never forgive herself if the Akatsuki got their hands on her dear brother. She wouldn't let them!_

_**"If you want to protect your brother..."**__now as soon as the Kyubi said this he got Mito's full attention, and just like that the fox knew he had her on his claws__**"...then I have an idea"**_

_"What is it!?" Mito knew she shouldn't be trusting someone like the Kyubi for this, but she could not think of anyone else. Her Nii-san was her most precious person in this world and she would do anything to protect him!_

_**"This is what you need to do..."**_

_Even if it meant hurting him in the process_

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

Mito sighed sadly. Remembering that meeting and the fact that she had actually listened to the Kyubi always made her hate herself. Basically the fox had told her that her family would always be targeted by the Akatsuki, and that the only way of protecting Naruto was to make sure he was as far away from his family as he could. For this the Kyubi had told her that, since she was the only one treating Naruto as a member of the family, if she started treating him badly too he would, sooner or later, leave their family for good, which would make him safer

Now of course Mito had protested, telling him that she would never hurt her brother on purpose. The Kyubi had replied by saying that if she truly cared about Naruto then she would be willing to do anything in order to protect him. He also told her that by doing this she would be able to focus on her training more, which would definitely help her in order to fight against the Akatsuki once they appear. The Kyubi also told her that if she went with his plan he would make her easier to use his chakra, so that she had a better chance at surviving.

Mito didn't want to follow his plan, but after thinking about it she reached to the conclusion that he was right. A part of her thought of training him personally, but the Kyubi cut that idea quite fast, saying that it would take too much of her time and that she couldn't teach stuff she was barely learning herself, so in the end Mito had no choice but to accept the Kyubi's proposal, which explains her change in behavior towards Naruto when they were seven years old.

Seeing her brother's safe face when she acted cold towards him was one of the things that hurt Mito the most, but she had to do it. If Naruto ended up separating from their family completely then that would make him safer, and that was what Mito wanted most than anything

Of course she had always had second thoughts of her decision of acting so cold toward her dear Nii-san, but she held herself firm to the believe she was doing what was best for him. Of course that changed when Naruto disappeared for a whole week.

To say that Mito was worried would be an understatement. She even blamed herself, thinking that Naruto had decided to leave the village of something because of their family. She believed that if she had paid more attention to him then she wouldn't have let him go missing like he did. Of course when he finally appeared yesterday she was more than happy, and the first thing she wanted to do was to go where he was and hug him like no tomorrow. She controlled herself though, knowing that Naruto probably resented her.

Those believe was supported by how her mother acted the rest of the day. She looked so fragile and lost. Even though she tried to act like nothing had happened Mito could easily see that whatever Naruto had say to her had hurt her deeply. That actually scared Mito a lot. She didn't know what she would do if Naruto told her that he hated her, even though she knew it would be her fault for listening to the Kyubi it was still something that scared her a lot.

So right now Mito was having an internal conflict. A part of her wanted to go and talk to her Naruto-Nii-san, to make sure he was ok and to make sure that he would not do anything as stupid as disappear for a whole week Kami knows where. Heck, a part of her wanted to follow him just to make sure he wasn't doing anything dangerous or bad. But she was also scared. Scared of her brother reaction towards her. She was scare of him not wanting to have anything with her. And she was definitely scared of him hating her.

Because Mito was not sure what she would do if the person she loved the most in this world told her that he hated her

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, in an Unknown Place_

The Shinigami was floating in a dark void, apparently deep in thought. His plan was coming alone with nicely, at least it was if what Alcor was reporting was correct. And he knew he was correct, after all his little servant would never dare himself to lie to him

Not like he could do it in the first place

The Shinigami was not the only one with servants though. No, his two siblings had their own little entourage too. It was a necessity for the gods to have servants for different reasons. The first one of them was quite simply: The gods could not go to _any_ world unless they were called, or summoned, by the habitants of those worlds.

It was one of the rules that the trio of gods had to follow. The gods were hardly omnipotent like the humans of some of the worlds thought of them. It wasn't that they didn't have power, because they were the most powerful being in existence. It was because they couldn't use all that power like they wanted. No, there where a set list of rules that the three of them had to follow, unless they wanted to be destroyed by the other two gods of course.

This was the reason of why the needed servants. They worked as their eyes and hear in the different world, or at least that was the job the Shinigami gave to his servants, after all unlike his brother and sister he didn't have the interest in humans to look at them for all eternity like they did. Of course the servants themselves had rules, but they were fewer that the rules for the gods. One of the rules the servants had to follow was to never cause too much change in the different world. Of course they could do minor stuff there, which the Shinigami was sure was the job a lot of the servants of his brother and sister had, but nothing major like destroying a world for example

He was sure that Yami would be the first one to send his servants to do that if it wasn't because of that rule

That didn't meant there weren't other ways for his only brother to cause the chaos he enjoyed so much. That was one of the reason the Shinigami had sent Zeref into that world. The Shinigami knew that Yami was planning something, after all it was him the one that had destroyed Zeref's home world, even if it was indirectly

That was just the thing he liked to do. While Kami was the goddess of Light and Hope, Yami was the god of Darkness and Despair. Those two always had a war going between them. Yami would try to use his servants in order to destroy a world but Kami would stop him using her servants. Meanwhile the Shinigami would always stay in the side-lines, just watching and making sure that the balance was kept, after all the only thing he wanted were souls, and that was something he would get no matter what

Of course everything changed when one of Yami's plans actually worked and a whole world ended up destroying by that abomination that E.N.D was. Zeref didn't know it, but he had been nothing but a pawn in one of Yami's schemes, one that actually worked.

To say that the complete annihilation of the population of a world had affected the gods would be an understatement.

Kami became weak. She was now nothing but a shell of her former self. Of course being the goddess of hope and love and all good feelings in general made the destruction of a world quite hard for her, after all both her and Yami got their powers from the humans, and even if it was only one world between many, it still affected Kami quite bad.

Meanwhile Yami was the complete opposite. This was the first time a world was actually destroyed completely, and Yami had felt more powerful than ever. Just like his title implied he feed on the despair on humans, and of course nothing brought more despair than when human were killed. So of course when a world got destroyed completely Yami would feel it. It wasn't only for that though. No, the Shinigami was sure that the fact that the world was destroyed by E.N.D had made it different. After all both Yami and E.N.D felt just too... alike

And now that Kami was weak and Yami was acting like a kid with a sugar high it meant that the Shinigami had to act. He couldn't let Yami to destroy another world after all. It wasn't productive for the God of Death after all. While he had liked all the souls he had gotten thanks to E.N.D killing spree, the Shinigami was a practical being and he always liked to thing for the long-run, and a world destroyed didn't help the Shinigami at all. After all a world without humans meant no new souls would be produced there, and that was something the Shinigami would not tolerate

It was for that reason he sent Zeref to the world known as his inhabitants in the Elemental Nations after giving him some simple instructions. The Shinigami knew that whatever Yami was going to do now was in that world, after all he could _feel_ that other monster Yami called a servant on that world, and if he was there then it meant all hell will break lose. And without Kami to do anything at this point it meant that the Shinigami would have to act.

Zeref primary mission was to go and train young Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. The Shinigami had chosen that boy for two reasons. One was because of the boy's soul. It was strong, stronger than anything else the Shinigami had ever felt. The closest thing the Shinigami had ever felt was when Yami's favorite servant was human. Sadly Yami took that human's soul once he died and made him his servant. That human was a monster before and now under Yami's little thumb he became one of the strongest being that existed. Heck, Alcor was the Shinigami's strongest servant and he was sure Yami's pet would kill Alcor easily.

That was not a pretty good thought

The second reason was actually quite new. Kami too had taken an interest in Naruto, and if her sister took an interest in a human it meant he would normally make great changes in his world. Good or bad, who knows? But great changed indeed.

The gods could not see the future, but it was easy for the Shinigami to know where and when a powerful soul would be born. One of the jobs the Shinigami had for his servants was to make sure those souls were born, after all those were the Shinigami's favorite food.

And he would be damned if he lost one just because a servant of Kami or Yami did something stupid.

One of the things the Shinigami had made sure was that Zeref would be able to train Naruto once the child was born. For this he went great lengths. He would have used one of his servants for this but that became unnecessary once the father of the boy summon him. Yes, the Shinigami had taken that chance and did what he believed would let Zeref get easy access to Naruto. Because he was summoned the Shinigami could do whatever he wanted with his summoned, Minato Namikaze, which normally meant taking his soul, but that wouldn't have worked for the Shinigami, after all the mother of the kid would still be alive, so the God of Death didn't take his soul. Instead he took something of equal valor to a man soul and that would help him in his plan. He took all the feelings both Minato and Kushina had for Naruto. Now normally the Shinigami would never do this, but for the sake of his plan it had to be done, and since he was called to seal that nine-tailed fox he could take whatever the hell he wanted as a form of payment. The only thing he did was not telling Minato what he took.

It was for that same reason that he had sent Alcor to alter his seal on both parts of the Kyubi. Humans were predictable, and the Kyubi was just as predictable, so after telling Alcor what to do it was easy enough to figure what the Kyubi would do. Yes, his plan worked perfectly and now Naruto was being trained by Zeref. A boy with so much potential trained by Zeref, who once had a lot of potential too, would be a force to be reckon with, and the Shinigami needed someone like that to stop his stupid brother's plan

Of course the Shinigami was no evil, once he had seen that Zeref had already started training Naruto he had gave back to both Minato and Kushina their feelings towards Naruto, after all they might be useful for the boy in the future and the Shinigami needed Naruto to have every little advantage he could had. That was one of the reason that the Shinigami had for giving Zeref that blade of souls. It was a good tool that both Zeref and Naruto would need sooner or later

Right now there was not much the Shinigami could do but to wait. All the pieced were already in the field and sadly it was Yami's turn to play. But knowing his brother he would do little to interfere in the Shinigami's plan. After all that man was a psychopath that enjoyed causing despair in every world he could, but there was one feeling he loved even most, one that practically made him a walking contradiction

What Yami loved even more than to made people feel despair, was for him to feel despair

And what better way of feeling despair than to see your plans ruined in front of you?

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Well this has to be my longest chapter to date. I want to apologize for taking so long in update. I don't want to make excuses, but the reasons for that was because of my new fic (don't worry people, I will focus on this one more) and the fact that I had to re-write this chapter a lot. And even after that there still something about this chapter I don't like. I just felt it could have been better**

**Another thing I had gotten question and suggestion was about the theme of the teams. Next chapter will have that and all the teams had already been decided. I was having doubts about Naruto's teams but a suggestion from a friend and a review ended up convincing me about whom to put with Naruto.**

**Some people might not like the whole fact that I put the gods in this fics. Well, if you don't like that then this might not be the fic for you. While the gods won't appear for a while after this chapter it won't mean they aren't important. Just as the final part of this chapter suggested, they are behind a lot of thing of this fic.**

**Again, thank to the reviewers (last chapter was the most reviewed of this fic, yaii), and to those that followed and favorite this fic.**

**Next Chapter: First Killings, meetings with some youngsters, graduation from the Academy and the team test.**


	8. Birth of Team 7

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama'**Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

**_"Rasengan"_** Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**Chapter 7**

**Birth of Team 7**

_Two months later, the Ninja Academy_

It has been two months since Naruto last went to train with his sensei, Zeref, in the place dubbed as training room and the young blonde found himself having mixed feelings about it

For once part he was both frustrated and disappointed by the fact that he couldn't go and train with his father figure. More than once he had wanted to simply go to his apartment and then use the magic circle that was there to go and train. Sadly his theory of ANBUs following proved to be correct. He could not see them of course, but after a few days of his 'return from the Forest of Death' as the people he had told that story believed he managed to feel the presence of two ANBUs while meditating. It wasn't easy but it proved his earlier doubts, so for the time being Naruto had to act as low as he could

Of course this brought the fact that he ended up staying in the house of his former family, which meant that he ended up seeing them more than he would have liked. The only thing he hoped was that they took a hint and didn't bother him

Sadly, he wasn't that lucky

For starters both Minato and Kushina had tried to include him in every little thing they did together with their children. From their family meals to their training time they had tried to make him a part of it. This didn't work though. Naruto would spend nothing but the minimum time he had to spend in that house. He would always just tell them a simple 'no' when they tried make him join the training. He didn't want to owe them anything. He didn't need nor want their help for training. The was also the fact that training with them might make him reveal his true skills and that was something he didn't want to do until he had to

He had to eat though and he couldn't eat outside forever, so in more than one occasion he ended up eating dinner with the whole family. That was an experience that Naruto found both annoying and a test to his self-control. Both Minato and Kushina would of course try to make him join the different conversation that went of the dinner table and he would do his best to ignore that. Meanwhile both Menma and Mito would give him quite the looks. Menma would glare at him in almost every meal while Mito would give some piercing looks when she though he wasn't paying attention

He was.

Natsumi on the other hand would always act like there was nothing wrong with the world. Apparently the little hamster, as Naruto called her in his mind, could not detect the tension that appeared every time Naruto was in a room with anyone of her family. The youngest Uzumaki-Namikaze would always try to become Naruto's shadow as soon as he entered the house, which sometimes was too early for his liking, and try to tail him and ask a bunch of question so fast that he couldn't even understand some of her questions. He did manage to pick up the fact, before he closed the door of his room in her face, that she thought he was 'cooler' than Menma and that the black part of his hair made him look cute

He disagreed

From all of his former family Natsumi was the member that Naruto was more conflicted about. He didn't see her as family just like the rest though, but in the end Naruto was not an irrational person. No, he had thought about the behavior of his blood relatives a lot in the past and he had ended up reaching the conclusion that Natsumi's behavior towards him was both her parents and Menma's faults. More Menma's than anyone, after all Naruto remembered how Menma would instruct Natsumi about how to treat him, and without Kushina or Minato telling her that what Menma was trying to teach her was known as bullying she ended up taking her brother's words at hearth.

At least it looked like she had ended up correcting her behavior, after all Naruto control had a limit, and he didn't want to know if an energetic Natsumi throwing insults at him would make him break said self-control

His other former sister would act quite different in his presence though. Every time both Mito and him were together anywhere, which included the Academy, she would give him this weird looks every time she though he wasn't paying attention. Those eyes of her would look at him with so intense that Naruto sometimes wondered what was going in that head of hers. It was like Naruto was the center of her world for those few seconds she spent looking at him. Sometimes said looks were accompanied by her biting her lower lip and Naruto could swear that he caught her blushing more than once

That, even though Naruto would not admit it, put him on edge in more than one occasion

Menma was another matter all together. Apparently the blond had not got the memo of how to annoy Naruto since the only thing he did was to glare at him. He never said anything nor tried to do anything to Naruto, he just glared and nothing else. Of course Naruto had no problem with that, in fact he was thankful, after all a glare was something he could handle easily

But he didn't know what he would do if Menma started fawning over him like the others.

Naruto didn't spend all of his time with his former family though. Since he couldn't go to neither his apartment or the training room in fear of ANBUs finding the place and telling the Hokage he ended up training as best as he could in the many training ground that Konoha. And for those training session he was in the company of his friend Sasuki almost every time.

Apparently the young Uchiha had decided to take advantage of the fact that Naruto stopped disappearing after class everyday by spending as much time as she could with him. Of course Naruto had no complains about this, after all he actually liked spending time with Sasuki. She had been his first friend, besides Zeref of course, and Naruto truly enjoyed his time with the temperamental girl, even if more than one occasion he had to dodge some rage induced attacks thanks to one or two comments he couldn't kept in his mind

Hey, when you spend almost all of your day with someone with the emotional ability of a rock like Zeref you tend to want to see some kind of reaction to, well, anything! And Sasuki was way too easy to get a rise of, especially when she entered in what Naruto called her 'Ojou-sama' mode. Always preaching about how the Uchiha were the greatest clan ever and how he should feel glad he was speaking to someone like her

Now if only she could say that while note being face first in the ground after a spar...

One of the things that Naruto felt the worse about was the fact that he wasn't able to practice magic freely in the past two months. In fact, he hadn't even spoken to Zeref in this time, and Naruto found himself missing his fatherly figure. While being with Sasuki was good and all, there was still the fact that he was keeping a lot of secrets from her, but with his sensei he didn't have to hide anything. He was someone who Naruto could talk about anything that was on his mind, knowing that his sensei would probably give him some advice

Even if said advice was a few cryptic words that sometimes confused Naruto even more.

Another thing that kept happening the past two months, much for Naruto's internal annoyance, was his weird meetings with the woman known as Anko Mitarashi. He didn't know how or why, but the coat wearing Jounin (or at least that the rank Naruto believed she had) would just appear out of nowhere, a lot of times with dango on her hand, and would just sit in a tree in start complaining about people Naruto didn't knew while said boy trained.

The only thing Naruto was glad about was that Anko would only do that when Sasuki couldn't go and train with him after class. Naruto didn't know why, but he had a feeling that if the two of them met things would end badly

Probably for him

Naruto's training the past month had been focused in his ninja training. He could do much though, so he ended up focusing more than anything in the elemental training that he had read in the library. Of course the young blonde started doing the exercise related to the element of his first magic, lightning, which was quite simple in fact. He just had to light up a light bulb by turning his chakra into lightning through his hand. It was quite easy for Naruto to do that exercise, thanks to both his highly affinity to the element itself and to Naruto's chakra control.

After that he ended up doing the fire element exercise, since he had read that having an affinity for that particular element was quite common in Konoha. The training consisted in burning a leaf with chakra, which in theory was quite simply, but in practice Naruto actually found it harder that the lightning training, but that was not surprising, considering that he might not even had any affinity to the element. He wouldn't be certain about what his affinities were until he got some chakra paper, but he was more than sure that lightning was one of it at this point

Naruto ended up changing the fire training for the wind element training, wanting to see if trying another element would be easier or harder. Cutting a leaf using chakra proved to be a little easier than burning it up, so Naruto decided to focus on that. Considering that both of his former parents had an affinity for the element of wind, something that Naruto knew for certain since he had seen them use that type of jutsu easily before he had met Zeref, it was quite possible that he had inherited that affinity. He was now able to cut the leaf completely, but he couldn't do it as fast as he wanted, which was the reason he kept practicing.

"What has gotten in your head this time, Naruto?" asked a voice that got Naruto out of his thoughts. Like always he simply turned his attention to his right, which was were the voice has asked her question, and ended up looking at none other than Sasuki, who had an eyebrow raised in question.

"Nothing important. What about you? Nervous about today?" shot back Naruto, his neutral face looking directly at her showing no emotions, but there was still a little glint of amusement in his deep-blue eyed.

At hearing this Sasuki couldn't help but to snort while crossing her arms over her chest, her head high and a smirk forming in her lips "Please, like someone like me would fail such an easy thing. They should just give me the headband already!"

"Of course Sasuki. Just make sure to keep that ego on check. We wouldn't want for it to get to your head now would we?" was Naruto reply, which got a little glare from Sasuki before she just huffed and turned her head while muttering something about blonde bakas

Today was in fact a very important day. Today was their final day in the academy. Yes, after the graduation test today Naruto and Sasuki would finally become Genin of the village of Konoha.

Both Naruto and Sasuki were quite confident about their abilities for passing the graduation test, after all Sasuki was tied with Mito for the post of Kunoichi of the Year and Naruto was sure that he was more than ready to be a Genin. His training with Zeref had paid off and he was more than sure that he would ace this test if he so feel like it, but like always he would just what he needed to do in order to past.

Naruto took this time to observe the different other student that would also graduate today. His gaze sweep the whole classroom, lingering more in who he considered the most 'promising' soon to be Genin, which of course was made of the majority of the boys and girls raised in Shinobi families and one or two civilians

In one of the desk, which were used to hold three people, sat Menma in the middle of it, a grin on his face and joking with the boy on his right. Said boy had messy brown hair, sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, pronounced canine teeth. He also has the distinctive red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheeks. His attire consisted on a leather form fitting black jacket, with zips over the chest and sleeves, along with black pants and sandals, also zipped, and matching the jacket. This boy was known as Kiba Inuzuka

In another desk there were three girls, all chatting quietly. In the middle of the desk was none other than Mito Uzumaki-Namikaze. At her right sat a girl with dark blue hair, fair skin and the unique eyed of the Hyuga Clan. She had straight, hime-style haircut which was waist length, with two shoulder-length strands framing her face. Her attire was comprised of a loose fitting, long-sleeved, lavender and cream zip-up jacket with lavender cuffs over mesh armor that hid her quite developed bust and navy blue pants and black, low-heeled sandals. This girl was known as Hinata Hyuga.

At Mito's left was another girl. This girl had long brown hair and light brown eyes. Her hair is straight on one side, but on the other side it is in a braid. In addition, she sports a clip with two circular designs. For her outfit she wore a pink kimono that hugged her b-cup breast, held closed by a pink sash with two pockets on the front. She also wore violet baggy pants and red mesh armor underneath her kimono and legs along with sandals that were orange in color. This girl was one of the last members of the Kurama clan, Yakumo Kurama

On another desk there were three boys. At the middle of it sat himself a boy with shoulder length black hair tied in a spiky ponytail and narrow brown eyes. His attire consisted of a green lined mesh T-shirt under a short sleeved grey jacket with green edges, adorned on both the sleeves and the back with a circle with a line through it, brown pants, and blue sandals. Besides that he also wore a pair of silver hoop earrings. This person was Naruto's second friend here in the Academy, Shikamaru Nara

To his right there was a robust guy with waist length spiky, brown hair and swirl marks on his cheeks. He was sporting a red suit with plated armor on his torso, arms, and upper legs, with the kanji for 'food' on its chest. He was also wearing a pair of small, hoop earrings. This person was known as Choji Akimichi, and right now he was doing his best to stuff his mouth with some chips

To Shikamaru's left there was another guy. This person had dark, bushy, brown hair and dark, narrow eyes that were hidden behind dark sun-glasses. His clothes covered almost al of his body. They consisted on a dark green jacket with a high, upturned collar, a hood and a satchel on his back. Besides that he had simple black ANBU pants and ninja sandals. This guy was known as Shino Aburame

In another desk a pair of girls were having a fast-paced conversation loud enough for Naruto to hear some words of it. One of these girls had fair-skin, blue eyes and long blonde hair, which was in a pony-tail, which reached her hips with a bang practically hiding one of her eyes. She had a set of fishnets on both her arms and over her knees. Along with these, she wears a short, purple, sleeveless blouse, an open-front purple apron-skirt over a shorter, black skirt, with short, fishnet shorts underneath. She also had a red clip on her hair and a pair of small silver hoop-earrings. This girl was one of the most popular girls in class, Ino Yamanaka

Alongside her there was Ino's best friend and probably the most promising civilian in the classroom. This girl had has bright pink hair, large green eyes, and fair skin. Her attire consisted of a red top with white circular designs, with black gloves, black, low-heel, calf-high boots, black shorts underneath a short grey apron skirt, and grey elbow protectors. This girl's name was Sakura Haruno.

Naruto had spent close of three years with all this people, but he hardly knew them. In fact besides Shikamaru and Sasuki, and sometimes Choji or Shino when they accompanied Shikamaru, he hadn't really spoken to any of them. He really didn't care at this point though. It's not like he dislike them or anything, but he simply didn't have time to socialize. In fact he was sure that if it wasn't thanks to Sasuki challenging him to a spar two years ago the two of them might have never become friends

It wasn't really easy to speak to them neither though. Kiba was too much of a brat sometimes for Naruto's like, and both Hinata and Yakumo were too shy and were always with Mito, which meant that talking to them would mean Mito would get into the conversation. Ino and Sakura were too... girly for his like. The fact that they were talking about make-up right now didn't help their case. Choji was friendly enough but Naruto didn't talk to him unless Shikamaru was with him, and Shino, just like Naruto himself, was a man of few words, so having a normal conversation with him would probable mean saying nothing for a few chunk of it.

Naruto knew that when he graduated he would be put on a team with other three members, so he was more than ready to try and establish a relationship of companionship and trust between him and them. He just hoped that Sasuki and Shikamaru would be part of his team; it would make things a lot easier. Of course he also hoped to not be on the same team as either Menma or Mito. He would at least act civil if it happened, but he knew that being in a team with them would create troubles sooner or later. There was also the fact that Naruto could not really trust those two, and without trust a team would fall a part rather quickly

Naruto's attention went from his classmates to the man that had just entered the classroom. This man, Iruka-sense as everyone call here him, had a set of sheets of paper in his hands. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the written part of the test was about to begin

Naruto just hoped he could finish this thing fast enough, after all once he became a Shinobi he would be declared as an adult

And he would have to hide no more

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_A few hours later_

"Congratulations, Naruto-kun" were the words that Iruka said to the blonde before giving him his headband with a small smile. The scarred Chunin couldn't help it, after all seeing his students graduate is one of his favorite moments.

With an almost invisible smile Naruto accepted the headband that will tell everyone that he was now a ninja of Konoha. Naruto tied his headband on his forehead and, after thanking Iruka; he left the classroom and started walking out of the Academy. The young blonde didn't find anyone on the halls since he was the last one to do the ninjutsu part of the test

The test itself had been laughable for the young blonde. The written test was nothing that Naruto didn't know about Konoha's story or the other subjects that appeared on it. After that it was time for the Kunai and Shuriken throwing part of the test. Like with the written part of it Naruto just did enough to pass, there was no reason to show off after all, although he could feel Sasuki's glare all the time. It was apparent that the young Uchiha didn't like the fact that Naruto was hiding his true strength but there was nothing she could do about it, but she was sure that Naruto was the strongest student here

He had to be to be able to defeat her so easily every time they sparred

After that it was time for the taijutsu part of the test, which simply consisted on doing your best against Iruka while other Chunin, Mizuki was his name Naruto believed, judges their efforts. Again Naruto had just done what he believed was necessary to pass. After that it was time for the last part of the test, which consisted on doing the three basics Academy jutsus. Naruto had done that easily after watching everyone else do so and leave, he was the last one after all, with Menma and Mito doing the test just before him

He could a swore that he had heard Mito wish him good luck after she had gotten her headband, but Naruto had quickly shook that idea out of his mind, after all he was sure he had heard wrong or something.

Like Mito of all people would wish him good luck.

So right now Naruto was simply walking out of the Academy, his face a mask of indifference. What Naruto wanted to do right not was to go and see his sensei to tell him the news. He was now a Shinobi, which meant he was considered an adult. Now he could live in his apartment like before and there was nothing anyone could do about it. After all Minato and Kushina had now no control over him. Yes, Naruto would visit his sensei soon, probably in the night though, to not raise any suspicion to anyone by just disappearing at the middle of the day.

Once Naruto had gotten out of the Academy he was greeted by the sights of multiple parents and family members congratulating their sons and daughters for finally becoming proud Shinobis and Kunoichis of the village. His attention went to the group consisted of four people with black hair and eyes, two mans and two women, one who was Naruto's friend, Sasuki.

Apparently even her elusive brother had gotten time to come and congratulate her little sister. He could easily see it, Sasuki's mother hugging her daughter while both her brother and father had smiles that, while small, perfectly showed the pride both hard towards Sasuki. In all of that Sasuki was beaming at them. It was the biggest smile Naruto had ever seen in Sasuki's face. After a few moments Sasuki's eyes went directly towards Naruto's own and the young blonde offered her a little smile wile touching his headband. Sasuki's response was another smile and a nod while touching the headband that was in her front too

None of the three elder Uchihas missed this interaction though, and Mikoto would make sure to bring this little fact in the family dinner today, after all seeing her daughter so flustered about a boy was something that Mikoto enjoyed. Fugaku just raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, it was not the place and he was sure his wife would bring it up later anyway

Itachi on the other hand gave Naruto an analytical look. Naruto caught his gaze and matched with his own and he could have swore that he saw Itachi's eyes flash red before the Uchiha redirected his focus. Naruto just narrowed his eyes a little bit but decided not to say anything. He would to remember to never look an Uchiha at the eyes though; who knows what might happen if he did.

Sasuki was an exception of course. Not only was she his friend but she didn't even have the Sharingan yet, so Naruto was sure that looking at her eyes would bring nothing but a flustered Sasuki

She tended to do that for some reason when he stared long enough.

Naruto's eyed caught the color of red before a little red-headed missile impacted with his body and tried to hug the stuff out of him. Naruto had to use all of his self-control to not push whoever was hugging him, but when he looked down the who became obvious; after all he ended face to face with the winning face of none other than Natsumi Uzumaki-Namikaze

"I knew you could do it, Onii-chan!" said Natsumi happily, who apparently had seen Naruto's headband and decided that a hug was in order. This just made Naruto blink twice before taking calming breaths. What was up with this girl? How could she act like there nothing bad between him and her family? Did she forgot or she just didn't care at all and thought that it was all water under the bridge? Naruto couldn't understand the little hamster at all, and the fact that she acted like they were the best of siblings annoy him to no end. Of course Naruto didn't want to make a scene, so he had to restrain himself from just pushing the girl out of him or even saying anything, after all he didn't trust his voice to come out of anything but a snarl.

Naruto did his best to move himself out of the hug, which was quite difficult since the little hamster had one strong grip con him. She even pouted cutely when Naruto finally manage to break the stupid hug. The young blonde though that he was finally free and he was more than ready to use the **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_** in order to leave without that much of fuss. Sadly for the young blonde the rest of the Uzumaki-Namikaze family had decided to take this chance to greet Naruto.

Well, Minato and Kushina did. Mito just followed with her brow furred in both confusion and mild annoyance and Menma had his normal glare and sneer every time he looked at his brother.

"Congratulation, sochi" spoke Kushina, who tried to move forwards and embrace her eldest child. Of course Naruto caught this and as soon as Kushina moved he gave a step back, his whole body tensed. Physical affection was not something that Naruto was use to, and coming from the woman that had neglected him since he was a kid he couldn't help but to feel a little threatened.

As soon as Kushina saw this she stopped in her tracks and she did her best to stop the tears that threatened to come out of her eyes. Her sochi had rejected her once again! And every time it did it just hurt even more. Even though she knew it was both her and Minato's fault she couldn't help it, she wanted her sochi as a part of the family!

Naruto gaze went from the now dejected red-head to his new leader, who had put his arm around his wife in comfort. Naruto knew that he would be in the presence of his former father in the future. It was not something he could escape, after all he was the Hokage and Naruto was now one of his Shinobi. Naruto wanted to make sure though, that Minato understood that whatever relationship they would ever have would be strictly professional

"Hokage-sama" greeted Naruto with a stiff nod towards the eldest blonde, his voice so cold and devoid of emotions that not even Menma could be stopped from flinching. Both Menma's and Mito's expression went to surprise quickly at hearing Naruto's tone. Meanwhile Natsumi looked plain confused at this, was there a problem between her Naruto-Onii-chan in her Tou-chan and Kaa-chan?

Minato wanted to say that he didn't have to call him Hokage and that calling him Tou-san was ok, but at seeing his son's cold eyes he held himself back. "Naruto-kun, we were going to celebrate yours, Mito's and Menma's graduation by going to eat some ramen and we were really hoping that you could come with us"

Naruto had to keep the scoff that threatened to escape his lips in his head. The simple idea of celebrating with this people was something that would have never crossed Naruto's head, and he couldn't find any reason to accept. He had already told them how their relationship, or lack of one, worked, they just refused to understand. Naruto could easily see the hope in both Minato and Kushina's eyes, and the young blonde was more than ready to crush that hope

"Excuse me Hokage-sama, but I have matter to attend to... you will have to go and celebrate without me, it's not like that stopped you before anyway" said Naruto, the last part going as low as a whisper, but both Minato and Kushina heard it loud and clear and of course it make both look crest-fallen. Naruto, wanting to put an end to this charade started walking past his former family, and he would have succeed in leaving them behind if it wasn't because of the hand that grabbed his arm tightly. Of course this made Naruto turn, which make him end up facer to face with an obviously distraught Mito.

Deep-blue eyes met violet for more than a few seconds in which neither Naruto or Mito said anything. The young red-head didn't know why she had stopped her Nii-san like this; she just had the feeling that if she let him go the breach between them would become even bigger. Mito hadn't missed the look that Naruto gave Sasuki, and she surprised herself when she actually found herself being jealous of the young Uchiha. Of course Mito knew that her Nii-san and Sasuki had some sort of friendship or something like that, but she thought that it was nothing big. But when she saw her Nii-san smiling at Sasuki, a true smile it made her jealous of her. She wanted her Nii-san to smile at her too! The fact that Natsumi went and hugged him so freely didn't help neither. She had wanted to hug him too just like her but she was still afraid of how Naruto might react to her. She was sure she wouldn't be able to handle rejection from her beloved Nii-san, and the tone he has used towards their Tou-sama definitely didn't help.

Mito had wanted to say something, _anything_ to her Nii-san before he left, but she just couldn't find the words. What could she say? I'm sorry? Please forgive me? I love you? She wanted to say these things and more but just a look at Naruto's cold eyes looking at her with nothing but indifference made her words die in her throat.

Naruto, having enough of this, simply yanked his arm free and keep walking out of the place. He was truly tired of having to deal with this family that seemed to not catch the hint. He now hoper more than before to not be put in the same team as either Menma or Mito. Kami only knows what he would do if either of them crossed the line. His self-control was good but not infallible.

He just hoped that his former parents would stop trying to fix their relationship. There was nothing to fix because it was already destroyed beyond measure. Naruto was sure of that and he was also sure that it was more probably that his sensei would crack up and roll in the ground in laughter before he accepted those people as his family

And if he had to beat the crap out of one of them to make his point cross then, well, he guessed that Menma would do just fine.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Hours later at night_

Mizuki was one happy traitor. The future former Chunin of Konoha had manage to steal the famous scroll of secrets, which contained a number of forbidden techniques from the Hokage's themselves.

It was not easy to steal it though. No, Mizuki's original plan was to use that good for nothing Kyubi brat Naruto, but the stupid monster ended up actually passing his graduation test, making Mizuki's plan of manipulating him into steal the scroll for him by telling him that it was a remedial test useless.

Of course not everything was lost. It was more risky but he managed to steal the scroll by himself. Fooling the guards of the scroll was easy enough. He just had to kill one of them and then use **_Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique)_**__to fool the other guard, who of course he killed after.

So it was an exited Mizuki that was moving through the forest outside of Konoha, his destination none other that Iwagakure no Sato. His plan was to learn everything he could of the scroll and then use it as a bargain chip for Iwa to get an important spot there. Here in Konoha the improvement of his career was stunned but in Iwa he would become one of the top Shinobi there, he was sure of it

Mizuki knew that by this point someone had already noticed that the scroll had been stolen, so he had to move fast before the tracking teams got a lead on him.

It was because of both his excitement and his hurry that Mizuki never noticed the pair of black eyes that had seen him stole the scroll, or how the owner of those eyes had followed him in the shadows, waiting for his chance to strike

Which was now

The last thing Mizuki remembered was thinking of how powerful he would become, just before his whole world turned black

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_An hour later, with Naruto_

The young blonde didn't know what was going on; he just knew that, for some reason, almost every ninja available has been deployed to search for someone. Who? Naruto had no idea, but whoever he was had just gotten Naruto his golden chance to visit his sensei

The young blonde had spent the rest of that day meditating in his room in the home of his former family. Naruto had already decided to wait until night time to sneak out and go visit his sensei. He was also using this time to find peace in his mind, after all once again the fact that his former parents had tried to act like if they care just made him remember the words of his shadow when they fought.

Natsumi and Mito's action had both confused and annoy him too. He truly would have to find the moment to put a stop to Natsumi's "affection". She was not his sister and he was not her brother, so there was no reason for her to act that way. She couldn't just act like everything was ok between them, that's not how it worked.

On the other hand Mito's action just plain confuse him. Why did she grab him? She hadn't spoken a word to him in years and now she tried to what? Stop him from leaving? Why? There was also the look she gave him at that moment. Naruto didn't understood what was that glint she had on her eyes. Was it fear? Why would she be scared? It just didn't make sense in Naruto's opinion

And for the first time in his life Naruto was actually thankful of Menma. After all the bastard had not changed in anyway and had just given him his normal glare, something that in comparison with everything else was very welcome

So it was a confused Naruto that entered his apartment. The young dragon slayer had just used **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_** to appear outside and was now going directly towards the magical circle that would teleport him to the training room.

And like normal he pressed his hand in the circle and focused his magic there. The effect was instantaneous and Naruto disappeared in a black flash.

Not knowing that he would be entering in another test of Zeref.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

"What is the meaning of this?" were the first words that Naruto said as soon as he reached the training room, his eyes widened in complete shock.

The reason for that reaction was the fact that, as soon as Naruto reached the training room he was greeted with the sight of one of the Chunin instructor of the academy, Mizuki was his name he remembered, chained, upside down and unconscious. Just a little bit to the right was his sensei, reading a black scroll that Naruto had never seen in his sensei's possession

As soon as he said anything Zeref's attention went from the scroll to his apprentice, his black emotionless eyes meeting confused deep-blue ones.

"Greetings, Naruto-kun" said Zeref, apparently not surprised at all by Naruto's reaction.

"Sensei, what's going on?" asked Naruto once again, his brows furrowed in complete confusion. He knew that if his sensei did something it was for a reason, but Naruto couldn't think of any reason to kidnap someone like Mizuki

"This person, Naruto-kun, tried to steal the scroll of secrets of Konoha" revealed Zeref, getting another shocked expression from Naruto. The young blonde knew about what the scroll was. It was one of the things that the Academy taught after all. It was a scroll that contained information of multiples jutsus that the former and present Hokage decided to store in there. It was truly one of Konoha's most valuable artifacts, so why would a Chunin like Mizuki steal it? The only reason that Naruto could think for something like that was...

"He's a traitor" murmured Naruto, getting a nod of agreement from the powerful dark mage.

"Indeed, Naruto-kun. Mizuki here stole the Scroll of Secrets and was more than ready to sell it to another village, probably in exchange for some sort of privilege in said village. He would have probably do this after studying the scroll himself. If this scroll had fallen into the wrong hands it would have probably started conflicts that, if my guess is right, would probably have been the starting face of the Fourth Shinobi World War"

Now this truly shocked Naruto. A war starting just because of the actions of a greedy man? Was it that easy to start those kinds of conflicts? Naruto had his doubts, but Zeref wasn't kidding. The powerful dark mage had the intentions of stealing the scroll himself. He wouldn't keep it though. No, he would just read it and, if he found anything useful, he would copy it for his apprentice, after all Zeref couldn't use any of the jutsu in the scroll thanks to his lack of chakra.

What Zeref found in the scroll had definitely surprised him a little bit. Some of the jutsus there seemed quite useful, like the different **_Mokuton (Wood Release)_** and **_Suiton (Water Release)_** that were documented in the scroll. Of course he knew that Naruto would not be able to use **_Mokuton (Wood Release)_** so he ignored that part, but he did copy the **_Suiton (Water Release)_** techniques. Besides that there was also information of both the **_Rasengan (Spiraling Ball)_** and **_Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)_**. Another noteworthy jutsu was the **_Shiki Fujin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal)_**. But without a doubt the most shocking jutsu that Zeref found there was the **_Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei (Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation)_**. Of course someone like Zeref who's magic centered around the live and death would be interested in something like a jutsu that brought the dead back to the living.

Zeref himself knew a technique similar to that, but there were difference. Zeref had never used it himself, since he had never nor the necessity or the requirement to use that form of the **_Black Arts (Black Arts)_**. While creating life was something that Zeref had done a lot, returning a person from the land of death was definitely something he had never done.

It didn't take a genius to know that so much powerful techniques in the wrong hands could create chaos, especially if someone went wild and created an army of undead soldiers. A part of Zeref wanted to destroy the original scroll, after all the last thing he wanted was someone playing with the **_Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei (Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation)_**, but he ended up not doing it, thinking that if the scroll wasn't returned it might bring unnecessary action from the Hokage's part. So after copying everything that Zeref though would be useful in different scrolls he returned the scroll to where it was before it was stolen by Mizuki. It was quite easy for the dark lord to go around in places that were heavily guarded, after all he could easily avoid detection and even seals that worked detecting intruders didn't work in him, after all those seals worked by detecting Chakra signatures, and Zeref had no chakra in his body

He could even enter the Hokage's house easily enough.

His reason for bringing Mizuki here though, were completely different. He didn't know how Naruto would react to what he was going to have to do, but this was something that Zeref knew Naruto had to get out of the way fast. It wouldn't do for him to hesitate in a mission or a fight just because he had doubts of fear. No, Naruto was his apprentice and Zeref would make sure Naruto was more than ready for when he faced the worst

"The scroll has already been returned" started Zeref, his eyes looking directly at Naruto's "but now it's time to deal with the man that was more than ready to seal the place he vowed to protect just because of his greed" As soon as Zeref finished the chains that maintained Mizuki floating disappeared, and the silver haired Chunin felt to the ground with a thud. He didn't wake up though

"What are you going to do with him?" asked Naruto, wanting to know how his sensei would proceed from here

"Me? I'm doing nothing Naruto-kun... This man right here is nothing but scum. Someone that was ready to sell his loyalties just for power and prestige. Someone that was ready to put this whole village in danger just because of his greed. The is only one that this kind of people deserve Naruto-kun... that is, Death"

"You want me to kill him?!" questioned Naruto, his voice rising a little bit while his eyes were looking at his sensei incuriously. Of course Naruto had never killed before, he knew he was going to have to do it sooner or later, he was a ninja after all, but this situation was definitely coughing him off guard.

"It's just like I told you Naruto-kun. As a Shinobi of Konoha you have now duties. Protecting the village is one of them. Disposing of treats to the village itself is another one. This man right here has no friends, family or anyone that would miss him. You already know it Naruto-kun, you _will_ kill sooner or later, and the first kill is always the hardest one. It's better if you do it now than in the middle of a fight in which you could easily froze or hesitate at any moment" replied Zeref, his sole focus on his apprentice

Meanwhile Naruto knew that what his sensei what saying was true. Killing for the first time was definitely not easy, and doing it in the middle of the battlefield was definitely not recommended. But still Naruto could not stop the doubt that was appearing on his head. Could he easily kill someone in cold blood like this? The man wasn't even awake for Kami's sake! Although Naruto didn't know if that made it any easier or harder.

Zeref noted his apprentice doubts, and he knew that he had to squash them fast, after all this was necessary. It might be hard but it was better in a controlled environment like this that in a mission "Naruto-kun, this man killed two other ninjas of Konoha just to get the scroll, and I'm sure he would have killed anyone that stood on his path. He deserves neither mercy nor forgiveness. People like him never learn Naruto-kun, and they are simply better off dead" spoke Zeref, getting a little nod from Naruto, whose attention went from his sensei to the passed out form of the Chunin.

His personal opinion of Mizuki was simple. He disliked him. He knew that Mizuki was one of those few people that believed he was the Kyubi Kami knows why. That combined with what Zeref just said make Naruto care little for the Chunin, but it was still his first kill. Trepidation was to be expected. So it was with slow steps that Naruto approached the sleeping form of Mizuki, his right hand grabbing a Kunai from his pouch.

When Naruto finally reached the unconscious Chunin he did his best to hide his feeling with a stony face, but Zeref could easily see them. After taking a few deep breaths Naruto decided to get this over with as fast as he could, so it was with a firm hold on his Kunai that Naruto stabbed the unconscious Chunin right where his heart was, he then twisted the knife just to make sure before plunging it out and throwing the bloody weapon to the side, his hand now trembling and his eyes refusing to see the cadaver of the man that became his first kill. Naruto didn't know how Zeref had done it, but Mizuki didn't make any sound when Naruto stabbed him, and for that he was glad, after all it might have made things harder.

Naruto now felt sick. He didn't know how people felt after killing, but he sure wasn't liking the feeling right now. What gave him the right to take a life like this? Wasn't it wrong? Even if his sensei told him that it was necessary he still felt that he had become someone bad. A murderer. A killer. A monster.

Naruto was taken out of his thoughts when his sensei placed his hand on his shoulder, and when Naruto looked into his eyes he saw something he didn't expect.

Understatement and acceptance

"I understand, Naruto-kun" started Zeref, his voice; while still emotionless it had a tingle of something. Sadness, Naruto believed "In an ideal world taking the live of another human being would be preposterous. But this world is far from that. Don't fool yourself Naruto-kun; you will meet people whose value of other's life is so little that they enjoy taking it from them. You will meet people that will try and harm not only you but those that you care about. You will simply meet people that are a danger to everybody else. I'm not telling you to learn to like it Naruto-kun, since that is something you should never do, but you must understand that in this world sometimes is killing or be killed. It doesn't make you a monster or something evil. I know you Naruto-kun; I know that you would never take another one's life without being forced to do it. So stop thinking so much trash and pull yourself together"

Of course Zeref knew what Naruto was feeling. He himself had felt the same the first time he took a life with his magic. It was only later that he stopped having problems killing people, and Zeref knew that was one of the things that turned him into the monster that he was, his complete lack of care about others. He killed anyone that stood on his path and sometimes he even enjoyed. But now... now he couldn't stop the shame and regret that appeared on his heart every time he thought of his actions

People were right at that time. He was a monster. Naruto wasn't, not by a long shot

Naruto found himself nodding unconsciously to his sensei words, accepting them as a life-line. He was sure he would never go on a killing spree or something like that, and while he knew he would probably never get completely use to the idea of taking a life that easily Naruto knew that if it was something he had to do in order to protect what was important for him (for some reason that the blonde couldn't understands, Sasuki appeared first on his mind when he though that), he would do it without hesitation.

The young blonde ended up sitting in the ground, doing his best to clean the blood that he just noticed was in his hands, clothes and even face with a tissue that Zeref gave him

Kami knows were he was keeping that hidden

It was after cleaning his hands that Naruto caught a black scroll that his sensei had just threw at him. With a little of surprise and curiosity in his head Naruto opened the scroll just as Zeref spoke

"That's what you are going to learn before the week is over"

The young blonde could not stop muttering the name of the jutsu that was on the scroll, and when he read the description his eyes actually widened a lot

"**_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)"_**

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_The next day, in the Hokage's office_

"This won't end well, Namikaze"

"We already discussed this, Orochimaru. I'm not going to change this team no matter what you say"

"Forcing them together like this will only bring disaster Namikaze! I give you a week before Naruto-kun kills one of his teammates just because they did something stupid. The only that's safe there is the Uchiha and that's barely"

This was the discussion that Minato Namikaze, Hokage of Konoha, and Orochimaru, one of the **_Sannins (Three Legendary Ninjas)_** have been having every since they started to form the different teams of the new groups of graduated.

Orochimaru, being the one in charge of keeping an eye of the Academy to better understand the future Shinobi and Kunoichi of the village besides his normal job as the head of the T&amp;I department, would also discuss with the Hokage about the teams that they will form.

Of course the final call rested in the Hokage's shoulder, but Minato always listened to Orochimaru's recommendation, after all they have probed to be quite valuable in the past

But this was one team that will stay as it is

Said team was of course former by two Jounin leaders and four new Genins. So far they had already decided in one of the Jounin, one Kakashi Hakate. Orochimaru really had no problem with that, in fact he had no problem with the team itself. It was only one member of the team that he had a problem with

Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze

In Orochimaru's opinion putting the boy with his brother and sister, Menma and Mito, in the same team could only end in disaster. He didn't have to be a genius to know that Naruto's relationship with his family was strained to say at least. His visit to the house a few months back and Anko's report about the boy's behavior just confirmed his suspicion. So how in Kami's name did Minato believed that putting them in the same team would be a good idea?

Orochimaru had planned something today. He had asked to take the boy as an apprentice. The snake summoner knew that there was something definitely wrong with that kid. The other might not have noticed it, but Orochimaru could feel how Naruto's presence itself was becoming more and more like _His_. And Orochimaru would be dammed in he let someone like that go unsupervised. In fact the snake summoner had already planned to make the boy die in a _tragic accident_ if he proved to be too much like that _monster_

Orochimaru was too afraid to even think of _His_ name, let alone said it out loud.

Of course that it might be a little difficult to get Minato to accept his proposal, but damn it he didn't know he was going to be so thick-headed about this! For what Orochimaru could read between lines, Minato's reason for this team was to fix the bridges between his family and Naruto by making him spend time with his siblings

Orochimaru thought that was foolish beyond believe

A team of Genin couldn't work together if they let personal feelings affect their teamwork, and Orochimaru didn't know if Naruto would even be able of work together with the siblings he doesn't care about. He guessed that Naruto might work well enough with the Uchiha girl, but that still let a very dysfunctional team

And a dysfunctional team was a dead team

"Stop insinuating that my son would harm, let alone kill his flesh and blood! He's not the monster you make him out to be, Orochimaru, and if I heard one more word about it then I'll make you leave and continue this by myself" argued back Minato, his eyes narrowed and his voice with steel that told Orochimaru that he would not change his mind.

Of course this make Orochimaru release an exasperated sigh. Obviously there was nothing he say to change the Hokage's mind, so he will have to go with Plan B. He could not let this boy go unsupervised, specially out of the village, so he decided that, if he could not keep an eye on the boy himself, then he would send someone that Orochimaru knew was more loyal to him that to everybody else

"I understand" said Orochimaru, his voice calm, hiding the frustration that he was feeling "I still believe that is a bad idea, but you obviously are not going to change it. I can only hope that this won't end as bad as I think it will"

The blonde Hokage nodded at this, thinking that Orochimaru was just being overly paranoid. Of course Minato knew that the relationship between Naruto and his family was still bad. The last month has just proved not only that but that Naruto didn't feel any love towards his siblings either, and Minato blamed himself for that. If he had been a better father then Naruto wouldn't be like that, or so he thought.

Putting Naruto with Menma and Mito was a plan of both the Hokage and his wife in order to start fixing their relationship with their son. They hoped that, by making Naruto spend time with his siblings he would start opening up to them, which, they hoped, would help them do the same with their son.

It was already bad that Naruto had apparently moved out of the house, or at least that what it seemed like since he hadn't return home after the test, and then they found a note on his room just saying that he wouldn't live here anymore, and there was nothing Minato nor Kushina could do about it. He was now a legal adult, so, as parents, Minato and Kushina had little to no power over Naruto

And forcing him to stay at their house by ordering him as a Hokage would probably just do more harm than good.

Of course this plan was probably going to fail, but Minato was a desperate father. He would try anything to earn his son's forgiveness, and he was sure Kushina would do the same

Another thing on Minato's head was the situation with the scroll of secrets. The valuable artifact of Konoha was stolen just yesterday by, according to the information they got, a Chunin known as Mizuki. Teams were sent to find the traitor before he got out the border, but no one could find him. That ended up being just one of the mysteries that happened, after all that same day the scroll was returned to the Hokage's house, by a complete black dog no less. The complete black animal simply disappeared after leaving the scroll in the garden, like it was never there. His wife had been the one that had seen it all.

This of course brought a lot of questions. Questions that no one could answer. The scroll was real, it was in perfect condition and Mizuki was still missing. There was still some teams looking for him but Minato had no choice but to close se case for lack of information.

He didn't know how or why it happened, but he was just glad the scroll was back and safe. Kami known's what could have happened if it ended up in a place like Iwa.

Nothing good he presumed.

"We still need a second sensei for the team" said Minato, going over the different profiles and records of the Jounin that had volunteered to be Jounin leaders. Of course Kakashi has been the first choice for one of the senseis of Team 7, after all Minato wouldn't trust anyone else with the training and leadership of a team which had three of his kids. They still needed another one though, and Minato didn't know who would be good for the team

"I have a suggestion for that" informed Orochimaru, hiding the smirk that threatened to form in his lips. If he couldn't have the boy as his apprentice to keep an eye on him then his little apprentice would have to do the job

Minato eyed the folder that Orochimaru picked, his eyes scanning the content of it with a critical eye "Really, Orochimaru? Her? Do you think I'm dumb or something? Don't think I don't know how loyal she is to you. So because I denied your solicitude of apprenticeship you decided to spy on him and his team? What game are you trying to play, Orochimaru" the last bit was said with an edge on his voice, but if Orochimaru felt threatened by it then he definitely didn't show it

"I don't know what you're talking about, Hokage-sama. Anko-chan is more than appropriate for the team. No only was she an ANBU but she was one of the best. There's also the fact that she and Naruto-kun are... acquaintance" Minato's eyes widened for a moment at hearing this. He definitely didn't know that! "And I'm also hoping that Anko's personality might make Naruto-kun open up to her. We need information; after all we still don't know who trained Naruto-kun, do we?" Orochimaru's voice was neutral during his explanation, and Minato had to accept his point, even if he didn't like

Of course Minato still knew that Orochimaru was going to use Anko to get information of her son, but still what Orochimaru said was true. Minato knew that his son didn't have a lot of friends, and that his loyalty to the village was, for some reason that Minato hasn't found out, bad to say at least. Maybe Anko could make Naruto open up? He was going to ask Kakashi to do the same, but having more than one person doing it might help things a little bit. He of course knew exactly how... flamboyant Anko Mitarashi could be, but that might be what Naruto needed at this point.

He wouldn't let Orochimaru use any information Anko will get to harm his son though. No, if he even got a feeling that Orochimaru was planning something harmful to Naruto, or any of his children for that matter, he would kill the S-rank Nin faster that he could mutter 'Kusanagi'

"I guess you do have a point, Orochimaru" started Minato, a cold glare directed towards his fellow S-rank Nin "But if I find out you're trying to do anything with my son, you will die. No questions asked. Understood?"

"Crystal, Hokage-sama" Orochimaru met Minato's glare with one of his own. He wouldn't be intimidated by someone as young as him. Sure, Minato might be stronger than him, but Orochimaru wouldn't let that go to his head. He was sure that, under the right circumstances, he could take Minato on.

He just hoped the situation with Naruto didn't end up in that.

Too risky for his life

"We still have more teams to assemble" Orochimaru told Minato after a few seconds of nothing but glares, getting a stiff node from the blue-eyed Hokage. The man picked up more of the files of both the graduated Genins and the Jounin, scanning over them with a critical eye

"We could make specialized teams here, but..." Minato said with a sigh, thinking of how past teams were formed and, while they worked well, Minato wanted them to be able to face any mission that came by "We need to change things up a little bit. Specialized teams are ok, but we can do better than that. The village needs teams that can handle every situation. Balanced teams that won't fall apart just because the mission is not the one they're normally comfortable with"

At this Orochimaru couldn't help but to smirk. Finally something that he could agree off. Minato was right. Making more all-around teams will help their survival. Besides specialized teams depended too much in the teamwork with _only_ their team and most teams were separated once one or two of them reached Chunin status.

"In that case, I have a few suggestions"

And so, they went on

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_A week later, in the Academy_

Just like they were told a week ago, all of the graduated Genin came to the academy, waiting for the announce of in which teams they will be with for the starts of their ninja carrier

Just like always Naruto sat in one of the farest desk, a scroll on his hand and Sasuki on his right with a completely bored face. The young Uchiha had already tried to start a conversation with her blonde friend, but he found herself talking to a wall, after all he was so immersed in that fricking scroll that the best answer she got was a "hmmm" from his part

She almost succumbed to the urge of grabbing the scroll and burn it with a good **_Katon (Fire Release)_** technique, after all the damn thing was stealing the attention of her friend, and she didn't like it!

It wasn't like she wanted the attention for herself though

Or so she kept repeating in her head.

Meanwhile, and oblivious to Sasuki's 'inner turmoil' Naruto was just reading another one of the scrolls that Zeref had gotten for him Kami knows where. He had already mastered the first one, the **_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)_**, and he was now reading about a complementary technique for that jutsu, the **_Bunshin Daibakuha (Clone Great Explosion)_**

Of course, while Naruto had a quantity of chakra bigger than normal, he could not go around creating armies of clones. They just needed way too much chakra for Naruto to be comfortable with. There was also the fact that Naruto's magic depended on his chakra to replenish itself, so it was better for Naruto to not expend all of his chakra just making a few clones.

The other function the **_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)_** was that Naruto would get all the information the clone got before disappearing. Of course the possibilities of using them for training appeared on Naruto's head as soon ad he read it, but his sensei told him about the different cons to this. The first one was that, for some reason that neither Naruto nor Zeref understood, the clones would disappear as soon as they tried to use magic. Zeref had gotten a few theories about the why, but nothing conclusive, so use them for magical training was simply out of the question. Reading and other forms of training, such as chakra control, ended up being the only things his clones could train, but even so Zeref just let Naruto make one or two clones, and Naruto ended up being ok with that, after all the backslash of getting the information from a clone was big. Naruto ended up having a head splitting headache

Thank Kami that not every clone that was destroyed returned his information to his head. No, only clones that puffed out of existence by themselves, or by Naruto's intent, would send their information back to the original. If a clone disappeared because it was destroyed in, for example, a fight then Naruto would not get any info out of him, just the knowing that one of his clones had disappeared.

Still, it was a damn useful technique and Naruto was thankful of his sensei for giving him the information about it.

Naruto's attention was taken out of the scroll when Sasuki shook his shoulder and pointed to the form of their new ex-Academy instructor, Iruka Umino, who had just entered the classroom.

Just as she did this Naruto was also managed to see how Sasuki's calm expression became a little nervous. At least that what he saw in her eyes, and the way she was biting her lower lip also indicated that she was nervous about something

And Naruto had an idea about what

"Don't worry" said Naruto, making Sasuki look straight at him "I'm sure we will end up in the same team" of course Naruto had no way of knowing this, but he could only hope "And even if we don't, it's not like we'll stop being friends or anything... right?" the last part was said as a question, which got Sasuki to release calming sigh before looking at her blonde friend with a small smile

"Of course... and thanks"

"Just like I told you before, that's what friends are for" and with that both Naruto and Sasuki felt into a comfortable silence, both looking directly at where Iruka was going to start calling the different teams

Naruto had little to no interest in the first six teams since they were made of nothing but civilian kids that, if being honest, Naruto had never pay attention too, It wasn't until Iruka got to team 7 that Naruto's attention was picked up, after all the only ones left to get a team were people that had gotten Naruto's attention the past three years

"Team 7 will be Sasuki Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, Mito Uzumaki-Namikaze and Menma Uzumaki-Namikaze, their Jounin senseis will be Kakashi Hatake and Anko Mitarashi. Team 8 will be..." whatever Iruka was going to say never reached Naruto ears. Why? Because the blonde mage was now trembling in barely contained rage!

How dare that sorry excuse of a father play with him like this! Naruto was no fool, he knew that the teams were decided by the Hokage, they had to, which means that he purposely put him with his blood-relatives in the same team. Why? Why couldn't they understand that he wanted nothing to do with them? That he wanted nothing to with that cursed family beyond what was require? He hoped that now he was a Shinobi he would have to just interact with Minato as he was the Hokage, and maybe Mito or Menma if he was forced to work with them on a mission, but being with them in the same Genin team? What was next? Kushina as their sensei?

He never felt more glad of hearing Anko's name than that day

Then there was the fact that their other sensei was Kakashi, someone that Naruto was more than sure would try and get as much information as he could from him to inform Minato as soon as he revealed that he could do more that he showed in the Academy.

He was sure that if it wasn't for Sasuki he would believe that is was his nightmare team. His former siblings as teammates, Minato's little dog as one of his sensei and a woman that licked to get on his nerves as much as she could as the other one

Oh the joy!

Talking about the young Uchiha, said girl couldn't stop the smile that appeared on her face as soon as her name and the name of her cru-friend! As soon as the name of her friend and her own were said in the same team

Damn it! The teasing that she had gotten al week from her mother had really messed her head. Her, liking the blonde baka as more than friends? Preposterous!

Ahh, teenage denial

That smile though, turned into a shocked and worried expression as soon as she turned to face the blonde, after all the normal calmed and collected Naruto was now trembling while releasing calming breaths with his eyes close, almost like he was doing his best to stop himself from storming at someone

Oh, how right she was

Sasuki was not the only one looking at Naruto though. As soon as the team was mentioned Mito too turned and looked up from her seat at the front of the classroom, and of course what she got really startled her. First she saw her Nii-san trying to, what she guessed was, calm himself before he opened his eyes and gave her one of the iciest stares she had ever received. So much that it actually sent shiver down her spine. Those eyes, in Mito's opinion, were wrong! She could easily remember how those eyes use to look at her with nothing but happiness and love. She loved those times. They were the most precious memories that she had, but now, looking at how cold and uncaring her dear Nii-san's eyes looked it made her heart twist in pain. He shouldn't be looking at her like that! She couldn't let this to go on anymore. No, she had to fix it, fast

She had already spent seven years without her brother's love, and she didn't think she could last another day without it

Specially if that love was changed with nothing but cold indifference

Naruto's cold eyes went from her to someone else, and as Mito followed his stare she found herself at the form of her other brother, Menma, who for some reason was smashing his head against the desk

Hard

What had happened was that, as soon as Menma heard that he was at the same team as his "loser brother" as he kept calling Naruto in his head, he groaned in annoyance just before started pounding his head against the desk, muttering about useless brothers and injustices of life

Yes, definitely not the best team.

Oh well, they will have to learn to cooperate

Or die

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_An hour later_

"Where the hell are they?!" once again the annoyed and impatience form of Sasuki Uchiha yelled at no one while pacing around the classroom, her fury obvious in her face

"Would you chill out, Uchiha? It's not like yelling is going to make time move faster" grunted a rather annoyed Menma too. Not only annoyed by the fact that their senseis were not here, something that was to be expected expect from someone like Kakashi-nii, but also from Sasuki's rant about how irresponsible it was for a Jounin of all things to be late

Damn the girl really had a good set of lungs

"Bite me, Namikaze!" growled Sasuki with a glare, more than ready to release the angriness that she had on the stupid brother of her friend

"You first, Uchiha!" now Menma was the one angry

"Could the two of you stop fighting each other? You're not helping at all. The last thing we need is you two shouting things right now" Meanwhile Mito tried to be the mediator of the two. Her words only got both Sasuki and Menma to look the other way with a huff and Sasuki deiced to just sat in silence besides her blonde friend, who by the way had his eyes close and was apparently doing his best to block the outer world

Sadly he was failing because, just like Menma said, Sasuki had a really good pair of lungs

After that the classroom ended up in a tense silence that no one was willing to break. Menma just stared at the ceiling with an annoyed expression on his face, knowing that this was something to be expected from Kakashi-nii. Meanwhile Mito too was in nervous silence. The young redhead was giving her Nii-san some nervous glances very once in a while, her fear for rejection making her unable to go and talk to her

She could still remember the cold glance she received from her dear Nii-san and it broke her heart like it was made from glass

On the other hand Sasuki was still fuming in her seat. Every other team had been picked up by their senseis just after all the teams were called out, but hers had apparently gone missing or something. At this point she was more than mad, no one should make her wait like this for one hour, no one!

Well, maybe Naruto, but that was just because he was cute...

...wait, what?

Dammit, Kaa-sama!

Meanwhile Naruto was using the time to meditate. It truly helped him relax, and considering the situation he pretty much need it. If he had opened his eyes he would have seen how his raven-haired friend got a blush on her entire face because of her thoughts, and she would have said just one word that would have made it worse

Cute

It was after another half an hour that the door of the classroom finale slid open, showing a man with gravity defying silver hair, a Konoha headband covering his left eye and wearing the normal Konoha uniform.

"My first impression of this team is that... you're boring" were the first words the silver haired man said while entering, getting two sweat drops, one raiser eyebrow and a twitching one

"Kakashi-nii, you're late... I thought Kaa-san told you that if you kept doing that she was going to beat the lateness out of you" sweat dropped Menma, getting a nervous chuckle from the now revealed Kakashi. Of course the silver-haired Jounin knew what Menma was talking about. His sensei's wife, Kushina-nee, had threatened him that if he was late to meet his team she would, to put it plainly, beat the crap out of him, and for a moment Kakashi had whimpered and nodded vigorously towards her

But dammit he had a reputation to maintain! Besides he was still early than usual, so it was a win-win situation

He hoped Kushina-nee would see things like him though

Probably not

"Don't worry, Menma-kun. I'm sure Kushina-nee won't do that... I hope" that last part was said as nothing but a whisper.

Meanwhile Sasuki's eye-twitch had become even worse. She even had a tick mark on her forehead. If there was something Sasuki didn't like was lazy people, and for what that idiot Menma just said this guy sounded like he liked to be late

That wouldn't do at all

Before Sasuki could start shouting and snarling to the silver-haired Jounin Naruto clamped his hand over her mouth, making her screams of protest sound muffled, and forced her to sit down. He was just beside her and he knew more yelling wouldn't help anyone

Apparently Kakashi saw this since he sent an eye-smile towards Naruto, although if the blonde noticed no one knew. "Well, meet me at the rooftop right now. There are some thing we need to talk first" and with that Kakashi disappeared in a leaf **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_**, making both Mito and Menma look at the place he was before disappearing with curious faces before they shrugged and start walking out of the classroom

Mito turned around before leaving though, to make sure that her Nii-san and Sasuki was following them but when she did she found no one there.

Where the hell were they?

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, on the roof_

Kakashi didn't have enough time to take out his copy of his favorite book, Icha-Icha, since as soon as he got in the rooftop, another person; two in fact, got there too in another **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_**

Said couple were none other than Naruto and Sasuki, one of them calm as ever and the other one obviously still pissed of about something. Kakashi couldn't avoid being surprised at seeing his sensei's eldest son, even if it was just by a few minutes.

Kakashi had many regrets on his life. The death of his teammates being one. Not spending time with Naruto had become another one. His sensei had explained the situation to him. About how Naruto felt resentment towards his family because he never felt like a part of it. He had also asked Kakashi to keep an eye on him and to try and connect to him like he had connected to Menma years ago. That of course was something that Kakashi would love, after all his sensei had told him a long time ago that he was practically part of the family, and as such he would help his sensei's family as much as he could

He had to admit, he was surprised that a freshly new Genin could use the **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)._** He knew that was something that the Academy didn't teach, which meant that Naruto had learned somewhere else. From who though? Or maybe he just found a scroll in the Library or something.

He would have to ask

And he would have asked if it wasn't because, during the time he spent in his thoughts, both Menma and Mito had gotten to the rooftop, obviously by using the stairs. Both of tem were surprised at seeing Naruto and Sasuki here, Sasuki with her arms crossed over her chest and silently fuming while Naruto had a hand of her shoulder, apparently trying to calm her down a little bit. This of course got two suspicious glances from Menma and Mito, although the reason for them were quite different

"Aren't we missing someone?" asked Mito after she got in place to Naruto's left, with Sasuki being at his right and Menma at Mito's left. She was right, Naruto thought, where was Anko? In fact, wasn't it too much of a coincidence that Anko of all people became a sensei of his team? Something wasn't right here. Naruto didn't believe in coincidences, which meant that in his opinion this was pretty much done at purpose. But why, between all the Jounin of the village, put the one that had been doing her best to get on his nerves for two months already as his sensei?

Naruto would have continue thinking if it wasn't because of the soft feeling that pressed on his back, coupled by two arms that hugged him from behind followed by a warm whisper in his hear that sent shivers down in his spine

"Did you miss me, Naru-kun?" now this was one of the reasons that Naruto was so on edge with Anko. No matter what he did the damn woman always managed to get on his guard just like she was going right now. It was a blow to his skills how he never managed to detect her until it was too late

Like right now

"Anko-san, what have I told you about doing stuff like this" Naruto tried his best to keep his voice calm and neutral, kind of hard considered that he still was a teenage boy, being hugged by an older hot woman.

Anko pouted at hearing this before hugging Naruto even harder, squashing her breast to his back "And what did I tell you about calling me like that, Naru-kun? If you want me to stop you have to call me 'Anko-chan'. C'mon Naru-kun, I know you can do it, it's easy. An-ko-chan!" Said Anko, the last part in low whisper that sent another shiver to the young blonde.

He wasn't the only one affected though. Both Menma and Kakashi were looking at the scene in front of them with confusion obvious in their face. Since when did this two know each other? And since when were they so close? Kakashi knew Anko liked to flirt a lot, but she never did it with someone so young, so what the hell was she doing now?

Meanwhile Mito was showing a calm exterior, but on the inside she was fuming in barely restrained rage, her fists clenched tightly. What was this, this... hussy, trying to do with her Nii-san?! Why was she hugging him like that? And how could her Nii-san act so calmly about it?! He should shake her off at once!

Sadly Mito was not the only one that felt like that, but she was the only one with restraint

Sasuki? Not so much

"What do you think you're doing?! Get off him right now!" growled Sasuki, an accusing finger pointed straight at Anko. Who the hell was this woman and why was she acting so comfy with Naruto?!

"But I don't wanna" whined Anko towards Sasuki, before her pout became a devilish grin "Or maybe you would like to take my place here?" she reinforced that statement by hugging Naruto even more tightly, making Sasuki blush quite red. Wetter it was because of her angry or being embarrassed by what Anko said, no one knew.

This was one of the reasons that Naruto feared the day both Sasuki and Anko would met. For what he knew Anko liked to get on people's nerves and Sasuki was way to happy to rile up

Definitely an explosive pair

"Ne ne, Anko-san, please stop teasing the little Genins, we kind of need to start with presentation anyway" told Kakashi to Anko, trying his best to defuse the current situation. He knew that working with Anko of all people was going to be a hassle, but it was way too early for her to be causing mischief to the Genins

They haven't even made their test yet!

Anko fake-pouted once again before releasing Naruto. After that the four Genin found them standing in front of both Kakashi and Anko. Naruto with his normal neutral expression, Menma with an air of excitement and curiosity, Mito giving suspicious glances towards Anko and Sasuki just glaring at her

"Well I believe we should start by introducing ourselves, shouldn't we? So why don't you guy tell me a little about yourselves, like your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, etc" said Kakashi, getting a raised hand from Mito "Why don't you show us first, Kakashi-sensei" said the young red-head respectfully, getting a nod from both Sasuki and Menma and a chuckle from the one-eyed Jounin

"Alright sure. Well lets see, my name is Kakashi Hatake, my likes are none of your concern and neither are my dislikes, I don't have many hobbies and I really haven't thought about my dreams that much"

'He only told us his name' deadpanned the four Genin, who were now seated on the ground

"Really, Hatake? it was your idea, you could at least put some effort in it" said Anko before coughing, a wide grin appearing on her face while she crossed her arms over her chest "I'm the awesome Anko Mitarashi! My likes are snakes, dango, the Forest of Death and a good challenge; my dislikes are anyone that insults my dango, ignorant fools, perverts and weaklings. My hobbies are torturing idiots, experiment with the poison of snakes and mess with certain blonde gaki's poker face" at this she sent a knowing smile to Naruto, who just blinked at her "and my dream is to surpass my sensei! Finished Anko while nodding with a grin on her face and her eyes close, not noticing how the expression of some of the people present became incredulous at some of the things she said

An exited Menma was next, a grin on his face full of confidence "The name is Menma Uzumaki-Namikaze. My likes are ramen, pranks, training; learn new jutsus and my family. What I don't like is the time it takes to propagate ramen, weak people, Iwa and... Certain someone" neither Anko nor Kakashi missed the look he gave Naruto at that moment "my hobbies are making ramen, training and pranks, and my dream is to one day become the Hokage!"

'Not surprise there' thought almost everyone there, after all the dream part was quite obvious for anyone that ever talked to Menma.

"My name is Mito Uzumaki-Namikaze" started Mito, a small smile on her face "my likes are my family, training, and my friends and...ramen" that last part was said barely as a whisper, after all Mito was a little embraced about her family obsession with the food " my dislikes are bullies, arrogant people, sexists, perverts and certain fox. My hobbies are reading, gardening, and Kenjutsu, and my dream is... more a life-goal. I just want to be able to protect those that I care about" 'And fix my relationship with Nii-san' revealed Mito, the last part just in her head, getting some raised eye-brows at the fox part and a proud eye-smile from Kakashi at her dream

"My name is Sasuki Uchiha" Sasuki still had a light scowl framing her face and her voice had some edge to it "What I like is training, my family, my clan, tomatoes and certain someone" now that actually got Sasuki's cheek to go a little pink. Why did she even say that? And Anko's devilish grin was not helping at all "My dislikes are weak people, lazy people" at this she glared at Kakashi, who just eye-smiled at her "people that break their word, perverts and those that make fun of the Uchiha clan. My dream is to surpass three different persons" By those people Sasuki was talking about her Onii-sama Itachi Uchiha, Madara Uchiha, and Naruto himself, not that anyone knew that though

It finally became Naruto's turn. He had been thinking about exactly what to say since the start, after all he was sure that saying that his likes were magic, dragons, darkness and Zeref was not something he should ever say.

"My name is Naruto" said Naruto in his normal calm voice, not even bothering in saying his last name, which made a couple of the people present frown a little bit "My likes are books, training and the supernatural" it was low, but Naruto clearly heard Menma's scoff. Not like he cared though. "My dislikes are... too many to count them all" this was one thing that Naruto really didn't want to reveal "My hobbies are reading and training and my dream is..." Now Naruto had never thought if any dream before. Motivation for becoming strong? Sure, but he didn't felt like that was a dream. His thoughts went to Sasuki. Protect his friends? Of course he would do that, but that's something almost everyone would do, so for him it wasn't a dream. Then his thoughts went to his father-figure, the man that had given him a chance when no one else did. The person that cared and believed in him when no one else would, and just like that the words came out of his mouth basically in instinct "...to make someone important to me proud"

Of course this got some raised eye-brow and curious expressions from almost everybody. Kakashi, thinking that the situation between Naruto in his family wasn't that bad (mostly because Minato's explanation was vanilla at best) thought that Naruto was talking about his father or mother, while Anko knew best. But who? That was something Anko had to find out.

"Well now that everyone knows each other I guess is time we tell you about your real test" said Kakashi, making the four Genin blink at him before Mito raised her hand and asked

"What do you mean by real test, Kakashi-nii?"

"You wouldn't believe you kids are already Genin, will you?" it was Anko the one that took the explanation from there, looking at the younger ones with barely hidden amusement "No, the Academy graduation test was just to see who had the potential to become Genins of Konoha. The real test starts tomorrow and we will be the ones to supervise it"

This of course got a wide-eyed expression from Sasuki, Mito and Menma, while Naruto didn't look affected at all. His sensei had already told him how this worked, so this wasn't news at all, at least not for him

"Wait and what happens if we fail?" asked Menma

"Simply. You go back to the Academy!" announced Anko, getting more shocked expressions from the Genins with Naruto being the exception.

"Don't worry; I'm sure you will do just fine. Anyway the test will be in the Training Ground 7, at 7 AM, so make sure you get there early" and with that both Kakashi and Anko go prepared to leave using **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_**, but just before that the silver-haired Jounin left him some more words "Oh, and make sure to not eat breakfast before. You might puke if you do" and with that both left, Anko winking in Naruto's direction and said boy doing his best to pretend he didn't see it.

As soon as they left Naruto leaned on Sasuki and whispered something in her hear that no one else could hear, getting a surprised expression from her before she gave an understanding nod.

And with that Naruto left in another **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_**, getting a shocked expression from Menma and a sad sigh from Mito. She wanted to talk to her Nii-san so much, but she never got the chance. She wanted to invite him to eat with her to celebrate that they were on the same team but once again she lost her opportunity to speak with him

She was so focused on finding a way to speak with him alone that she didn't notice when Sasuki left

Mito had to find a way to connect with her Nii-san again! They were now in the same team and she was not going to miss the chance to recover the time lost just because she followed the stupid Kyubi's advice!

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Next day, around 9 AM_

"Well I guess is time for the test" said Kakashi to the group of four Genin with Anko on his right. The silver-haired man had to admit that his little plan to make the test itself harder didn't work out in the end

For starters all of them ate before coming, apparently ignoring his warning yesterday, and they also got here two hours late like him and Anko. The snake woman, as some people called her, didn't like the whole 'getting late' thing of Kakashi, but she accepted to do it yesterday and today just to prove the gaki's patience.

Of course Menma, Mito and Naruto, knowing how Kakashi was, decided to get here later than normal and yesterday Naruto had told Sasuki to do the same. He also told her to eat no matter what Kakashi said, which she ended up doing

On the other hand Kushina had forced both Menma and Mito to eat breakfast before coming, saying that whatever Kakashi had said was nothing but rubbish

Yep, his plan failed completely

Kakashi produced from his pocket a pair of wormed out bells, which make them make noise when he showed them to the Genins.

"Well the test if easy enough. You have to get one of these bells from me before lunch time. If you get a bell before the time runs out you pass, if you don't then you're going back to the Academy"

"Wait, but there are only two of those things" pointed out Sasuki, getting a grin from Anko

"I think the answer is simple to that. Only two bells which means only two of your for can pass. The other two losers will simply go back to the Academy" answered Anko, surprising the Genins, and making Naruto think that there was something else here. Teams of two Genin? That was weird if not unheard off. Something wasn't right

Before any of the Genins could protest Kakashi showed them the clock before saying "Well time is running already, oh and before I forget, make sure to come at us with the intent to kill. Now, Hajime!" and with that the four Genins disappeared in the threes of the training ground, making both Kakashi and Anko nod in acceptance

'At least they got the stealth part right'

"So, Anko-san, wanna hold one of the bells or..." Kakashi stopped talking when he saw that Anko was just sitting there besides the clock with a box of dango Kami knows from where, and eating them quite contently

'Umm, Anko-san, the test" Kakashi talked with a sweat drop, trying to figure out his knew partner

"Huh? This kind of test was your idea Hatake, so you better take responsibilities for it and do it yourself. I'm too busy to play with the gakis anyway" said Anko before starting munching another dango, getting a bigger sweat drop from Kakashi. Anko had other reason for this though. She wanted to see what Naruto would do against someone like Kakashi, so staying in the sidelines for now was what she was going to do.

She was also interested if Naruto would be able to work together with his siblings or if they will fail Kakashi's little bells test because they can't work as a team

So for now, she will only eat and watch

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_An hour later_

'Where the hell are they?' thought a rather bored Anko while throwing another dango stick to a three, making a perfect representation of Konoha's symbol

It has already been one hour and there was no sign of the four Genins. She would believe that by this time someone would have done something, yet no one had, except with Naruto of course.

Now that had been surprising. After a few minutes after the test started Naruto had appeared and challenged Kakashi to a taijutsu match. Of course this surprised the two Jounin since Naruto didn't look like someone who would do something so impulsive.

Their suspicious were confirmed when more clones of Naruto appeared out of nowhere and started fighting against Kakashi with nothing but Taijutsu. Both Jounin were quite surprised not only by Naruto's clones abilities at hand-to-hand combat, but also by the fact that he knew the **_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)_**, a dangerous and secret Kinjutsu that a simply Genin shouldn't know.

In the end Kakashi managed to beat all the clones, only taking a couple of hits because he underestimated them. But that was an hour ago. Since that no other Genin had tried anything at all

And being honest it was annoying Anko to no end

Meanwhile Kakashi was just standing there at the middle of the field, his favorite book on his hand. He had been reading it since after beating Naruto's clones. He was truly impressed by Naruto's fighting style. He was quite good for a Genin, and they were just clone. The real was tougher without a doubt. He was starting to think that he will have to hunt them down if they weren't going to attack by themselves.

He just hoped they got the true meaning of this test fast. After all he really didn't want to fail a team with such promising Genins

Kakashi was taken out of his books by two sets of both kunai and shuriken coming from his right and left. Kakashi dashed backwards while hiding his precious novel, getting out of the attacks range. He was surprised though when all of the weapons changed with a puff, releasing a lot of smoke.

From said smoke at least a dozen of Menma started running straight towards course this didn't surprised Kakashi that much since he knew that both Menma and Mito were able to use the **_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)_**, but that still an ingenious was of using them.

The first clone that reached Kakashi tried to hit him with a simply punch aimed to his face, which Kakashi easily evaded before knee the clone in it's stomach, making it disappear. After that Kakashi crutched, avoiding another clone's high kick before doing a sweep kick that three the clone out of balance and made it puff away

Kakashi stood fast enough to grab the wrist of another clone that tried to attack him from behind, and then he threw him at the closet clone, destroying them both. Kakashi was more than ready to take on the next clone but he was interrupted by another voice

"**_Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)_**" yelled Sasuki from Kakashi's behind after doing the last hand seal. From her mouth a human sized fireball went directly towards Kakashi. The Jounin, knowing that just dodging wouldn't work, used the **_Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)_**__with the clone that was the further away from the jutsu.

Sadly for the silver-haired Jounin this was apparently predicted since as soon as he got out of the fire jutsu he was hit by a powerful gale of wind, courtesy of the original Menma's **_Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)._**

Kakashi did his best to block the jutsu, but he was still a little hurt from it and it also push him backwards. He didn't have time to blink though, since just after the jutsu hit them Mito tried to slash him with a normal looking katana. Kakashi managed to block the attack with his kunai, but his attention went to both Sasuki and Menma, who were starting doing the hand seals for their jutsus again.

Kakashi, alarmed by this, pushed Mito out of his way and started doing his own hand seals for a defensive jutsu. Sadly for him he was stopped when his body became completely numb. The one-eyed Jounin ended up falling face-first in the ground, his body twitching a little bit but showing no other reaction

This was the result of Naruto's attack from his back, or to be more precise Naruto's **_Rairyu no Yashisuto (Lightning Dragon's Palm Strike)._** A spell basically designed for capture. While any lightning attack could easily paralyze the enemy, this spell was focused on that, sending electricity towards the intended target after hitting him, making the body go numb.

This attack had been planned just an hour ago. After Naruto's clones did their job of distracting Kakashi long enough he managed to find Sasuki, grab her and take her out to a place in which they could plan. Naruto was no fool; he knew that by himself defeating a Jounin like Kakashi was hard if not impossible. His sensei had told him that, while he definitely had the raw power of a Jounin he still lacked something important: Experience

That was something that he knew Kakashi had by leaps and bounds. While Naruto's advantage would be the surprise factor, since he was sure that Kakashi would be surprised by his magic and would probably mistake it for some weird jutsu, he was still no sure that he would be able to defeat him, let alone of Anko decided to join the fight, so Naruto decided to simply work together with the team, after all it was what this test was all about

Yes, it didn't take too much time for Naruto to figure out the true meaning of this test. It was quite obvious in fact, after all Konoha was always preaching about teamwork, and teams were known to be of one Jounin and three Genins or two Jounin and four Genins, so having a team with two Genins was simply too unlikely

There was also the fact that no normal Genin would be able to defeat a Jounin, not even two. So Naruto quickly decided that the whole two bells things was simply a way to make the team fight each other

So after kidnapping Sasuki and explaining the real meaning of the test they went to find the rest of the team. It wasn't that difficult for Naruto since while they were a little harder to find than Sasuki they were still no Anko, so it only took them ten minutes to group the whole team

Mito seemed to accept Naruto's logic faster than Naruto expected, but Menma was another business. It was quite obvious that, for some reason that Naruto didn't care about, Menma didn't trust him. It took the combined force of Mito and Sasuki to make sure that Menma accepted to work together

He definitely stopped complaining when Naruto asked how many times he had beaten Kakashi before.

He guessed zero

After that it came time to plan. The surprise factor was their advantage and they used that. In the end the last attack was for Naruto, who moved at a speed far above the one of a Genin and used his **_Rairyu no Yashisuto (Lightning Dragon's Palm Strike)_**

Of course Menma didn't want to trust Naruto with he most important part of the plan, but Naruto just answered that as long as they worked together they would pass. Getting the bells was nothing but an extra way to prove their skills.

He ended up accepting the plan just because it was a three against one. Naruto believed he could easily do it, Sasuki believed in her blonde friend and Mito didn't want to make Naruto mad at her or disappointed by saying no. Besides she trusted her Nii-san, and if he said he could do it then he can

So for popular vote Menma had no choice but to go with the plan that they just used which of course worked quite well.

Naruto easily took both bells from Kakashi's unmoving body. He knew that he will start recovering in a few seconds. Sasuki, Mito and Menma went to surround Kakashi's unmoving form, Sasuki with a smirk and Mito with a barely hidden smile

Menma on the other hand was poking Kakashi with a stick, apparently trying to see if his body would react

Then the sound of clapping came from the other side of the Training Ground, from none other than Anko herself, who had a grin on her face

"Well I have to admit that wasn't so bad... for a Genin that is" She said to them before focusing on the silver-haired Jounin, who was starting to move a little bit "Oh and wait for everyone else to hear this. The proud Kakashi Hakate defeated by a group of Genins. Maybe if you spent less time reading porn and more time training things like this wouldn't happen" she said before grabbing another stick Kami knows from where and started poking the hell out of Kakashi, making him squirm a little bit

Ten minutes later Kakashi stood in front of his new team, Anko on his right, who still looked quite amuse by the fact that Kakashi was defeated so easily "So, I'm going to guess you guys figure out the true meaning of this test?" said Kakashi with a raised eye-brow, getting nods from acknowledgment from the four Genins

"Teamwork" Menma announced, looking quite proud of himself. For what reason Naruto didn't know. But then again Menma always looked like that

"Yes" Anko confirmed, her normal playful expression turned into a serious one "Without teamwork you won't go long or live long. While individual skills are important in the end you're not fighting alone. You have teammates and comrades that watch your back. Trying to do everything alone will only end in a fast death" Anko's voice was quite grim at the end, making the four Genin understand how important it was to work together

"Anko's right" continued Kakashi "Those who break the rules are thrash, but those that abandon their teammates are worst than thrash. Never forget that, since it's something that you will find quite important in the future" eye-smiled Kakashi before coughing into his fist, a look of pride in his eyes

"So for now on I officially approve of Team 7. Tomorrow we start to officially take mission like any other team. Congratulations!"

This of course got an exited cheer from Menma, a relaxing sigh followed by a smile from Mito, a smirk from Sasuki and a rather subdued nod from Naruto.

It was now official. They were a team. Naruto might not like half of the members of it but he will learn to work with them as long as he had. He wasn't going to let their bad relationship to mess with his ninja-carrier

In the not so distant future this day would be remembered as the one that saw the birth of one of the strongest team that Konoha ever made

Sadly, it would also be remembered as the team in which one of Konoha's strongest missing-nin was a part of.

Yes, they will do great things. Good and bad, but great things nonetheless

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Damn that was a long chapter. I wasn't planning to make it so long but it ended up just being like this. I have mixed feelings about this one since I felt the last parts were quite rushed since I wanted to take this chapter out fast**

**I apologize for taking so long into releasing this chapter. Next one will probably be shorter but it will also come a lot sooner than this one**

**The poll has already ended. I considered leaving it for more time but at this point it's obvious who won. Mito may have won the poll but that doesn't mean I will make it easy for her. She (and Menma too) will get their own scene with Naruto soon enough.**

**Some people might not like Naruto's team. I found myself thinking of a lot of possibilities, but after discussing it with a friend and throwing dices and coins it ended up being the one you saw in this chapter since I saw it as something logical for Minato to do. He wants Naruto back in the family and him and Kushina are desperate at this point.**

**Yes. I know I tweaked the Kage Bushin a little bit, but I had to. It just a way to easy tool to make any character overpower, and that's something I don't want in this fic. Naruto will get stronger, but it won't be from one day to another.**

**Again, thanks to everyone that followed, favorite and reviewed this fic.**

**Next Chapter: Team 7 missions, a meeting with the youngest Hyuga and a different Wave arc starts!**


	9. Test in Wave

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama'**Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

**_"Rasengan"_** Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**Chapter 8**

**Test in Wave**

_A few weeks later_

"I'm going to kill this damn cat one of these days" grumbled an angry and annoyed Menma, whose face had a number of scratches all over it, courtesy of the furred demon that his loser brother was holding on his arms

"I have to agree with you on this one, Namikaze. This cat should pay for his deeds!" snarled Sasuki while glaring at the same cat, her hands full of scratches and cuts, courtesy of the stupid animal

"Calm down both of you. Harming the poor thing won't help you at all. I'm sure he's just scared" scolded Mito to the two glaring members of Team 7, trying to stop them from doing anything impulsive or stupid. Of course she kind of understood why they were acting like this, after all this little cat, Tora, made a number on them with his claws. The only reason she didn't get her own set of scratches was because she didn't touch the cat herself

She got the message quite clearly when he hissed at her

Meanwhile Naruto was scratching Tora's head, making the little cat purr in delight. Naruto didn't understand why everyone said that this little fellow here was a demon or something like that. Tora was quite friendly if you asked him, and he was also quite the challenge to catch

Well, except for Naruto. He just had to call Tora and the little cat would come to him for some reason that no one on his team could understand

Just behind the group of Genins were their senseis, Anko Mitarashi and Kakashi Hatake. The silver-haired Jounin was like always reading his precious book with rapt attention while Anko counted the money she had just won from her fellow sensei of Team 7. She had bet that Naruto would find the cat in record time, something that Kakashi really doubted, but she ended up winning quite a lot

Seriously, who would have known that Naruto was good with animals?

The members of Team were walking straight towards the desk in which their Hokage was sitting with a group of Chunins, with the objective of finishing their mission by delivering the cat of the Daimio's wife.

As soon as they got there a rather big woman snatched Tora from Naruto's hand and started hugging the living stuff out of him, making Menma and Sasuki both grin evilly at them, to Mito to sweat drop while understanding why the cat escaped in the first play in to Naruto to actually feel respect for the cat.

After all anyone that could endure what that woman was going to Tora should be considered a hero on his own rights

Minato couldn't contain the proud smile that appeared on his face as soon as he saw his children's team. From all the other new teams this one was right now the one with the best development. Their mission record was quite impressive for a new team, their teamwork was better than average (which was impressive itself considering the members) and their individual skill were also top notch

Since the team was formed both Kakashi and Anko had been drilling team exercise on the four Genins without rest. Naruto had no problem working with Sasuki, and he was willing to work together with his former siblings just for the sake of the team. Mito and Sasuki also worked well with the other members of the team, although Sasuki more than once ended in a heated discussion with Menma over the most simply things. Menma on the other hand, while actually willing to work with Naruto, would always make some rude comment about his older brother. Of course both Kakashi and Anko did their best to stop that kind of behavior but Menma was unwilling to change his attitude towards Naruto

Why? Just two people knew and they would never tell anyone else

Besides teamwork they also thought the team chakra control, something that every member had a different set of skills. Sasuki was the one with the less training. She was still in the tree climbing exercise. She wasn't new on that, but she had yet to truly master the exercise itself. Meanwhile both Menma and Mito were still stuck on the water walking exercise. The problem with them was that they had too much chakra, thanks to certain fox, and so they had troubles with their chakra control more than everyone else

Naruto was on another lever however. Both Kakashi and Anko found themselves with nothing to teach him since he was already going the kunai balancing exercise while water walking, something that no Genin should be able to do. Of course this brought some question to both Kakashi and Anko, jealousy to Menma, who thought his weak brother shouldn't be able to do that. Pride to Mito, who thought that her Nii-san was awesome and awe to Sasuki, who was again was impressed by how her friend true skills were

Naruto ended up just helping Sasuki with her own training, much to the delight of the young Uchiha and to the slight jealous of certain red-head.

Another thing that the team found out was their Elemental affinities. Anko has gotten hold on some chakra paper and since she was curious about the team's affinity she made everyone use them. Just to demonstrate both Kakashi and Anko had gone first, Kakashi's showing his affinity towards fire and lightning and Anko towards both fire and earth. Mito and Menma already knew theirs, but they still went on with it, although Menma did it more to boast than any other reason

Mito's affinity were water and wind, just like her mother according to Kakashi, while Sasuki, in honor to her Uchiha blood, had a strong affinity towards fire, but she also had affinity towards lightning.

With the boys Menma had actually showed three affinities, water, wind and lightning, getting a smug look and a smirk from the blonde directed at Naruto, almost as if challenging him to do better than that. Naruto though was quite peculiar. The paper cut itself in half, which meant affinity towards wind, but then both half's of the paper started to actually release some sparks, the left one blue and the right one completely black, surprising everyone there since not even Kakashi had gotten such a response to his lightning affinity

This of course confirmed Naruto's suspicion about his affinities. Lightning was no surprise, and he had a hunch that wind would be another one. The black sparks were a surprise though, but he guessed that was probably just some reaction towards his **_Yami no Maho (Dark Magic)_**, something that Zeref later agreed to.

"Team 7 reporting in, Hokage-sama" spoke Kakashi, getting a nod from the blonde Hokage

"Good job as always team 7. Now, there are more D-rank mission here that you can..." started Minato, however he stopped once he saw both Kakashi and Anko move a step forward while the Genins stayed back

"Hokage-sama, we, as senseis of Team 7, request a C-rank mission" said Anko in a formal tone completely weird for her, getting a raised eyebrow from Minato, and surprised expressions from most of the Genins of the team

"Are you sure that this team is ready for that?" questioned Minato while looking at both former members of ANBUs with nothing but seriousness. This was not a decision to take lightly, after all while most C-rank mission were easy for Genin teams, sometimes the mission became harder thanks to so unpredictable variant

For example, missing-nins.

"We are, Hokage-sama" said Kakashi in the same formal tone that Anko used.

Minato kept the look for a while, but at the inside he was thinking of what mission give to this team. There was in fact a mission that would be perfect for this team. There was a slight problem though. While it was considered C-rank, it was in fact almost a B-rank, especially considering the second part of the mission.

"Very well, in that case team 7 will start their first C-rank mission tomorrow" announced the Hokage, getting two nods from the Jounin, an exited punch to the air from Menma, a smirk from Sasuki, a small proud smile from Mito and a simply nod from Naruto

"Let them in" said Minato to the Chunin on his right, getting a nod of understanding before said Chunin left. After a few moments the doors of the room opened again showing two different persons

One of them was an old grey-haired, bespectacled man with a large beard and dark wore a sleeveless v-neck shirt with an obi, pants and a pair of sandals. He also carried a towel around his neck and wore a pointed hat on his head

Just beside him was another younger man with short spiky black hair and black eyes. He had a small white rope tied around his head which was tied on the right side of his head and a small x-shaped scar on his chin. He wore a black T-shirt that had a white outline and a white pair of pants. He also had scars on his arms

"Team 7, this are the men that you will be protecting for your C-rank mission. These are Tazuna-san and Kaiza-san, from **_Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves)_**" said Minato, signaling to the two man that just entered

The younger of the two, Kaiza, gave the team a polite smile and a nod, while Tazuna on the other hand actually snorted at seeing them

"This is all we get? A group of brats, a Cyclops and..." Tazuna stopped when he saw Anko, and after seeing her for ten full seconds and blinking twice his whole demeanor changes "...thinking about it, I guess this team might not be that bad"

And with that Tazuna actually got a punch on the top of his head, courtesy of Kaiza "Stop acting like a creep, old man" said Kaiza, who then directed a smile towards the team "I'm sorry for this old geezer, he just can't help himself. I think we lost him a few years ago anyway" then he smiled nervously, getting some sweat drops from the members of team 7 and a feral grin from Anko that promised punishment if Tazuna tried something

"Team 7, your mission is simple. You will escort both Tazuna-san and Kaiza-san to **_Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves)_**. There you will act as their bodyguards for a time. You will leave tomorrow early, so you won't do any more missions today. Dismiss" and with that the two men and the members of team 7 started leaving the place, but before that Minato's voice sounded once again

"Kakashi, Anko you two stay, there's something I need to discus with you" this got puzzled looks from most of the team and a raised eyebrow from Naruto, but no one said anything. Both Jounins gave a nod to their Genins who left after seeing that

Now outside the members of team 7 found themselves with nothing to do. Before anyone could say anything Naruto disappeared in a **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_**. He had things to pack and prepare, and he had to tell his sensei that he would be out of the village for a while

With a sad sigh at not being able to talk to her Nii-san, Mito left to her house, followed by Menma who would ask her Kaa-san to teach him that jutsu as soon as he saw her.

Sasuki also left, although she was a little ticked off by the fact that Naruto just left like that. Where were his manners?!

None of them knowing that their first C-rank mission would turn into nothing but a test to one of their members

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_The next day_

'Well... this could have gone better' thought Naruto with a sweat drop while watching the fallen forms of the three idiots that tried to attack him. He had warned them about it but they ended up doing it anyway, which ended with them getting their ass beaten by Naruto easily

Naruto had woken up early, and with everything packed he was more than ready to go to the meeting point for his first c-rank mission, which was Konoha's entrance gate, but it was still a little early, so the young blonde simply decided to walk there instead of just using the **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_**.

On his way there he had actually ended up walking by the training ground he always used with Sasuki. Like always he expected the place to be empty, but he was surprised when he found four people there

Three of them were guys, probably of twelve or thirteen years of age, that Naruto had never met. His attention wasn't on them though. It was on the smaller girl that was in front of them.

Said girl was young, so Naruto had guessed she was ten years old. Said girl had dark brown hair with long parted bangs with a single lock of hair falling into her face. She also had large, white eyes which meant she was from the Hyuga clan. She was wearing a sleeveless, blue v-neck shirt, with mesh armor underneath and blue shorts and sandals.

Naruto ended up being to curious about what they were doing in a place that practically no one used, so he had gotten close to hear what they were saying, and what he heard wasn't good at all

The three boys were taunting the younger girl, saying stuff about how her eyes were weird and how her whole clan was weird and unnatural. Naruto didn't know if those boys went to the academy or not, but he knew that, just like any other clan, the Hyuga clan trained their members before they entered the Academy and their training went on even when they got in a team

So Naruto ended up actually fearing what the little girl would do to the boys once she lost her cool. Of course Naruto didn't really care about a bunch of bullies, but he was actually more worried about the girl ending traumatized because she killed three idiots with her Juken

So, wanting to defuse the situation before anything went out of control Naruto ended up revealing himself to the group. He tried to make the boys left, he honestly did.

But after a few seconds of them saying anything, one of them muttered the word 'demon', and their bad-mouthing went from the girl to him

Of course Naruto didn't even bother responding to the insults, which apparently angered the group of bullies, who were stupid enough to attack Naruto

Apparently they didn't see Naruto's forehead protector, or they were too stupid to register what it meant

In the end Naruto just defeated them after a few seconds without even breaking a sweat, shacking his head sadly and muttering about dumb civilians.

Which bring us to our current situation of Naruto looking at the young Hyuga girl, whose big white eyed were looking directly at Naruto without blinking and showing a good amount of curiosity, not knowing what to say

"Are you ok?" asked Naruto, not knowing what else to say right now. This just got a nod from the young Hyuga, which didn't really help the situation

"Hanabi Hyuga" said the young girl, her voice quite, yet firm "That's my name"

This made Naruto blink. He forgot that he hadn't really introduced himself to the girl, which she just did. "A pleasure to meet you Hanabi-san. My name's Naruto" introduced himself Naruto, deciding to not say his last name. He had been doing this for a while. After all he wasn't part of that family, so why use their last name?

As soon as he said his name Hanabi's eye widened just for a moment before she calmed herself. She had come here for a reason, and that reason was the person just in front of her

"I could have dealt with them myself" said Hanabi, but without any arrogance of anything like that. Just like she was staying an unquestionable fact, which she probably was

"I know, but there was no reason for you to dirt your hand with this scum, was it?" replied Naruto, getting another little nod of acknowledgment from Hanabi, who's eyes were still glued to Naruto's

Sadly for the young girl, since she would have liked to spent more time with the young blonde, Naruto had to leave since he still had a mission to go to, so after saying a fast goodbye, the young blonde decided to just use **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_** to get there since his mood was already ruined by the idiots he just beat.

After he left Hanabi, having nothing else to do, also started walking out of the place, completely ignoring the unconscious form of the three boys. She had come here for a reason. She had asked her Onee-sama if she knew where Naruto spent his time and the only place Hinata could think of was of this training ground, since more than once she had watched Naruto train here.

So Hanabi had come here expecting to see the blonde, but she ended up being confronted by those three idiots who had seen her enter this training ground and started talking shit about her clan. Hanabi was more than ready to make them eat their words but Naruto had appeared just before she could and had delivered punishment to them by himself

Hanabi had finger on her chin and a face that showed that she was deep in thought. Her meeting with the blonde Genin repeating itself in her mind over and over. It had been short but she at least got a little glimpse of how he was, which was better than anything

If Naruto had been able to read minds, he would have been definitely shocked by what Hanabi was just thinking; after all it was something that affected him directly but that he had no idea bout what so ever

'Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze... so you're the one I'm going to marry with... interesting"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, with Zeref_

While his apprentice was starting his first C-rank mission, the powerful dark mage known as Zeref was in another place completely different to where he usually trained Naruto

Of course the difference itself was just the location, since right now Zeref was not in the training room in Konoha that he used to train Naruto. No, he actually was in another training room that looked exactly the same, the only true difference being that this place had more rooms and that you could enter it from a secret passage, not just by using magic circles

Traveling by using magic circles was a complicated branch of magic. While some people might believe that it was easy since the only thing you needed were two magical circled connected in two different places, it was in fact harder than that. For example the magic circle itself was a tricky thing to craft. You had to be a master in the art since just one tiny mistake when making it could end in anyone that used the magic circle to teleport in losing a limb, or even died.

There was also the matter of distance. The bigger the distance it was between the two circles it was easier for the connecting to weak and for the circled to either stop working or to make mistakes at the time of the transportation. There was also the fact that when someone activated a magical circle it used your own magic to send you away, and the farthest the other place was the most magic it would cost the person that was transported.

It was for that reason that training room that Zeref used to train Naruto was so close to Konoha. Since Naruto's magical core was practically fresh new Zeref didn't want to strain it by making travel too hard for the young boy.

Besides it was better for now that Naruto didn't know that he had more places like that one and this one all around the continent. Zeref would tell him everything, yes, but that was in due time

Right now Zeref was standing in the middle of the room, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes focused in the three figures that were right know kneeling before him

You couldn't tell a lot about the figures since they had completely black cloaks covering their whole body. But guessing by their bodies you could tell that the middle one was definitely a man, while the two others were probably woman. Another thing to notice was that the figure in the middle had a massive sword on his back.

These were some of the people Zeref had at his disposal. During his travels around the Elemental Nations he had gathered a group of Shinobi and Kunoichi, all loyal to him and no one else. He hadn't meant to do it at the start, since the idea of having followers was never something that Zeref had wanted that much, but he ended up recruiting them simply because they could be useful.

After all he wasn't a god. He couldn't do everything and be everywhere at the same time. Whatever was coming Zeref was sure, no one could handle it alone

"You understand your mission?" asked Zeref, his calm and emotionless voice echoing everywhere. None of the three figures raised their head, they just answered with a clear "Hai!" making Zeref nod in acceptance

"Then go... And don't go easy on him. If he dies there then... He just wasn't meant to go forward" Said Zeref, receiving another confirmation from the three cloaked people who left the place as soon as their mission was given. They had to move fast. This was an important mission and they couldn't fail

Zeref stood in the middle of the room, his eyes closed and his body unmoving. He could easily sense the other individual that was hidden in the shadows here. He had called him after all

"And what about me, boss? Don't I get someone to play with?" asked a figure from the shadows, his voice full of craziness and mocking, almost making Zeref release a sigh. The dark mage was already use to dealing with this guy, but it was still annoying

Why from all people that he had killed, the Shinigami had to bring this one back to life?

"You already know your task, don't make me repeat myself" answered Zeref in the same calm voice, but the figure in the shadows could easily detect the hiding threat on it.

Who cares, though?

"But c'mon! Why can't I go and play with the kid?! Instead you send me to act as a distraction of all things! Not cool man, not cool at all!" whined the mysterious figure, getting a pointer look from Zeref, which even though it wasn't a glare, it was still scary on his own right

"Tch... fine! I'll go and play fucking decoy. I hope that those two at least give me a good challenge. I better leave now; Deidara must have his panties twisted already since I just disappeared out of a sudden. That guy should learn how to calm down, it's not like Zetsu keeps an eye on us 24/7 anyway." and with that the figure in the shadows disappeared using the magic circle that was in the back of the room, leaving Zeref truly alone this time.

The dark mage didn't dwell too much in this place though. He simply moved to one of the magic circled around and used to leave. It was what made this particular base important. It connected to all the other bases that Zeref had.

The last thoughts of Zeref before leaving were of his students. Some people might consider him evil for what he had just sent against him, but it was something that Zeref considered essential. Zeref wanted Naruto to be strong, but for that Naruto needed to face challenges that would test him to his utmost capacity.

He had confidence in his apprentice, and he _knew_ that he would be able to past this one just like any other Zeref had sent him and that he would send in the future.

Unknown to the dark mage, he wasn't the only one preparing a test for the young blonde. No there was another being that was already planning to use his pawn in order to test Naruto

It was a certain white-haired servant of the Shinigami

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_The next day_

"There's my pride and joy!" said an exited and happy Tazuna while pointing at the big bridge that connected **_Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves)_** with the rest of the continent

The journey had been actually quite calm and without any complications. Normally getting to this bridge would be just a matter of one day for a Shinobi, but since the team 7 was forced to travel at civilian pace they ended up taking a whole day to get here

Of course some questions about the place itself were asked while walking, which Kaiza happily answered for everyone. When Menma asked about from who they were protecting Tazuna and Kaiza from, both men turned serious out of the sudden and they said they would explain once they reached their home.

So, besides Tazuna's tries of ogling Anko, which ended bad for the old man, the journey here went without a pinch

Right now the members of team 7, leaded by Kaiza and Tazuna, were walking though the bridge tat Tazuna had built in order to make trades with the rest of the land easier. Konoha and Nami normally treaded things with regularity, although Nami also traded with other villages, like Suna.

Naruto noticed that the bridge had some burns marks on some places and that the bridge itself looked a little shaken up. Like if some big explosion occurred here. Naruto decided to wait until later to ask about it.

After walking for a while, in which team 7 saw some people of the land, which was no surprise considering that it was early, all happily waving and greeting both Tazuna and Kaiza. Apparently the two of them were quite popular in this place, the group ended upon a simple looking two-store house.

"Tou-san, Jii-chan!" as soon as the group entered the house they were greeted by two people. One of them was a young boy, who hugged Kaiza as soon as he entered. Said boy had spiky black hair and dark-colored wore a green jumpsuit with a yellow shirt and a simple pair of sandals. He also wore a blue and white striped hat

Just behind the boy a woman in her late twenties appeared and gave Kaiza a kiss on the cheek. This woman had long blue-colored hair. She was wearing a short-sleeved pink shirt with the end of the sleeves and the collar being red in color.

After introduction were given, in which team 7 found out that the little boy was named Inari and that the woman's name was Tsunami and that they were Kaiza's son and wife and Tazuna's daughter and grandson, the members of team 7 were grouped in the house's dinner room, since apparently Tsunami was already finishing lunch.

It was a tight fit, but they managed to sit everyone around the table to eat. Kaiza was at the head of the table, with Tsunami to his right and Inari to his left. Beside Inari there was Naruto, Sasuki and Anko, while beside Tsunami there were Mito, Menma and Kakashi. Tazuna sat himself at the other extreme of the table

The meal was simple, yet really good. The meal was also filled with chatter. From Tazuna and Kakashi talking about the wonders of Icha-Icha to Inari asking Naruto about why he dyed his hair black, to which Naruto just answered "puberty"

The conversation stopped though, when Menma asked something that had been nagging him for a while

"I don't get it. We didn't find anyone on our way here and this place looks to nice to have any threat. Why do you need bodyguards, Tazuna-san, Kaiza-san?" asked Menma while scratching his head with confusion obvious on his face. This got everyone's attention to go to Kaiza who released a sigh after seeing the nod his father-in-law gave him, which meant it was now his time to tell their story

"Well you see..." and thus Kaiza started telling the story of what had happened in **_Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves)_**in the recent years. He told them how he had saved Inari from drowning. How he had met Tsunami and Tazuna after that. How he and Tsunami had fallen in love with each other and had married after a while and how they lived quite happily for a while

Then he went about how the man knows as Gato, former owner of the shipping company known as Gato Transport, had come to **_Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves)_**in order to put the place under his control. Kaiza told them how he and the people of Nami tried to group together in order to release their land from Gato's control, which made Gato retaliate with deadly force. It was at that moment that Kaiza said something that shocked Naruto a lot

"Gato's men were more than ready to execute me. They were even going to cut my hands just to prove everyone who idiotic was to go against him" said Kaiza in a dark tone, making Tsunami to grab his hand under the table and to Inari to show an angry expression just at the thought of Gato, but it was wiped of once Kaiza ruffled the young boys hair "But I was saved. To this day I don't know the name of the man who did it, but just before Gato's man went to cut my arms this guy with black hair and dark eyes, wearing some clothes that I have never seen and with a cold expression, appeared and killed everyone there with his bare hands"

This of course surprised everyone, but not more than Naruto, who couldn't help but to link the guy that saved Kaiza with his sensei. The general description fitted, yes, but why would his sensei do anything like this? In fact, weren't this just a few years back? He spent almost all of the last six years with his sensei, so this couldn't have been him... right?

He would have to ask once he got to Konoha again

"How did he exactly killed him, Kaiza-san?" asked an interested Anko, who wanted to know more about this mysterious savior

"I don't know... He just moved to fast for everyone to see. At one moment he was there and there at the next one he was helping me get out of my binds and everyone but Gato was dead. Some had missed limbs, some have wholes in their bodies and some just looked death but had no wounds. Then the man went to Gato killed him with a sword that appeared out of nowhere" explained Kaiza, more interested looks from the members of team 7

"I have never seen that man again, but is thanks to him that I live today and that **_Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves)_**wasn't taken under Gato's control" continued Kaiza with a grateful smile, receiving a hug from Tsunami.

"After that I decided that it was better if we had a way to connect us with the rest of the continent in case someone like Gato appeared again, so I started with the construction of the bridge you guys saw." Said Tazuna, getting the attention of everyone.

"The problem is that, lately there had been some attacks to the bridge. Some people had started using bombs in order to damage the bridge and they also started destroying people's business while everyone is asleep at night. That's why we hired protection from Konoha. To make sure nothing happened to us until the situation was fixed" explained Tazuna with a tired sigh, obviously more than tired of the situation.

After that explanation lunch continued as normal, all the members of team 7 with different thoughts on their heads. Everyone were so caught up in their thoughts that no one noticed the small nod Anko gave Kakashi after the meal ended

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Next day, in a small lake in the forest close to Nami_

Sitting in a beautiful clearing, surrounded by trees and a small crystalline lake was none other than Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, apprentice of Zeref and dragon slayer of lightning

The young blonde was waken up earlier than the rest and, since his turn to watch over Tazuna's family wasn't until later, he decided to explore around the place a little bit, maybe find a spot in which he could train or meditate for a while

It was with those expectations that Naruto went to explore the forest that was close to Tazuna's house. Naruto honestly wasn't expecting to find any place magnificent or any like that, but once he got to this clearing he was definitely surprised and awed by how beautiful it was

The trees ended in a simply clearing filled with grass, with multiple types of flowers growing in certain spots. Beyond that there was a lake filled with nothing but crystalline water that made you wants to dip in and enjoy the water as much as one could

Of course Naruto stayed in this place, just relaxing and enjoying the feeling of peace and calmness that this place gave him. He didn't know why but this place just made him forget all about the problems and questions that plagued his mind

Naruto didn't drop his guard though. There was a reason for that after all

He wasn't alone

"It's beautiful, isn't" spoke a melodic and feminine voice from behind Naruto, which actually didn't surprised the young blonde at all. He had felt this person presence a few minutes back but decided to not act or anything since he couldn't feel any threatening aura from said individual

Every since Naruto had started practicing **_Yami no Maho (Dark Magic)_**; he found that it was easier for him to read people. It wasn't like he could read minds or anything like that, but he could easily detect when someone meant to harm him. Of course this six sense of him didn't work if the person didn't meant to cause him bad, which made it useless against someone like Anko who just wanted to annoy him, or to surprise him by attacking him, but that in the bottom didn't meant to cause him harm.

This was the product of not only his teaching of **_Yami no Maho (Dark Magic)_**, but also a side-effect of having the soul of a dragon inside the lacrima that gave him his **_Kaminari no_****_Metsuryū Mahō_****_(Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic)_**.

It wouldn't be the only benefice Naruto would get for that though

"It is" answered Naruto in a calm and peaceful voice, looking at the figure that just walked to his side before sitting beside him, her brown eyes looking directly at the lake

This girl was quite beautiful. She had long black hair, pale skin and large, dark-brown eyes, a slender frame and she was slightly shorter than Naruto. She was wearing a pink, sleeveless kimono, with pale red edges and decorated with small plum-colored swirls that went to his ankles. Around her waist was a simple white obi tied in a bow, and she wore a pair of light brown sandals with dark straps. She also wore a dark-colored choker around her neck.

The two of them said nothing else for a while. They just sat there, admiring the natural beauty that the place offered. The silence wasn't awkward at all; it was more of a comfortable one.

Of course after a while someone had to break the ice

"You are not from around here, are you?" asked the girl in a kind and curios tone, her eyes now looking directly at Naruto, or to be more precise, Naruto's forehead protector

"Not really. I came here to Nami just because of my job" answered Naruto while touching his forehead protector "What about you? You live around here?"

The girl only shook her head at hearing Naruto's question, which apparently meant she wasn't from here "I travel a lot with a group of friends. We decided to stop here in Nami for a while to get supplies, and I came here to see if I could find some medicinal herbs, just in case we might need them. My friends can be quite the bunch when they try" the black-haired girl said with a giggle, apparently remembering something that her friends did that was funny. Naruto couldn't help but to smile a little at seeing how happy she was when she talked about her friends

"What about you?" asked the girl with curiosity present on her face "Do you have anyone special to you?"

As soon as she asked that Naruto's mind flashed to two completely different people. The first one being his sensei and father in all but blood, Zeref. The second one was his first friend, teammate and most important person in his hearth beside Zeref, Sasuki Uchiha.

"I guess... I don't have a lot of them but there are some people that I deeply care about" Naruto didn't know why he had answered something personal like that. He just found it easy to talk to this girl, which was extremely weird since he had just met her a few minutes ago

"Then you can become strong" said the girl after a while, her eyes looking directly at Naruto with nothing but understanding in them.

"What do you mean?"

"I believe that, only when you have people that you care about... that only when you have people that you want to protect with everything you have, you can become truly strong" those words really hit home with Naruto. They sounded a lot like what his sensei had told him a long time ago. About how true strength could only be found in the bonds you made with the people you called friends and family.

The young blonde found himself nodding unconsciously, his gaze going from the girl's brown eyes to the lake once again "Those are truly wise words" commented Naruto to the girl, not knowing what else to say at this point

"They are, aren't they? A really important friend of mine told them to me a long time ago, and I have kept those words in my heart ever since" said the girl, her eyes had a far away look, like she was remembering something from the past that deeply affected her.

"This friend of yours, I think I would like to met someone like him" at Naruto's words the girl released another small giggle, and Naruto wondered if there was a joke he missed or something

"Maybe you will. Sadly he is far away from here right now, helping someone that needed him" answered the girl, getting Naruto more interested in the person that was her friend.

After that little exchange the two of them stayed in a comfortable silence for a while now, both losing the track of time. Naruto didn't exactly who this girl was, be he found himself comfortable in her presence.

It got late though, and Naruto had to leave since his shift in guarding Tazuna would come soon. The black haired beauty beat him to the punch though, since before Naruto said anything she stood up, straighten her kimono and gave Naruto a warm smile

"I hope this won't be the last time we see each other" said the girl, getting another small smile from Naruto

"I hope so too... uhm..." Naruto showed a confused expression, just now understanding the fact that neither he nor the girl had said their names to each other. The black haired girl apparently caught up in his trouble, since she released another giggle before saying

"My name is Haku, nice to meet you, Shinobi-san"

"A pleasure to be your acquaintance, Haku-san. My name is Naruto"

And after that the girl was gone. Naruto's gaze actually stayed glued to her form until she was out of his sight. Naruto released a sigh before standing up, actually missing the presence of the girl, Haku, already. He didn't know if it was healthy to be so interested in a person he just met, but he couldn't help but to want to talk to her more

So when Naruto finally left the small clearing with the lake, his thoughts were of the black haired girl he had just met, and if he would see her again tomorrow

He could only hope

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_One week later_

A week has passed since Naruto first meeting with Haku, and things in Nami have been nothing but peaceful, except for a few incident here and there

Naruto has been coming to the same place at the same time every day for the last week, and everyday Haku would appear shortly after. The two would simply have small chat, normally just talking about random stuff and never discussing their past. Other times they would just enjoy the others presence while simply admiring the natural beauty that their gathering place offered

Their meetings ended up becoming the thing that Naruto liked the most about his stay here in Nami. Of course he disappearing every morning brought question from the rest of the team

Sasuki, Mito and Anko were especially curious about it, while Kakashi thought that Naruto deserved some free time and Menma didn't care at all. Naruto just told them that he was taking a walk through the forest, searching for a good spot for training.

Of course he didn't tell anyone about his meting with Haku. He had the feeling that nothing good would come out of that

Especially if he told it to Anko or Sasuki. He could already picture it. Anko would tease him without remorse and Sasuki would get mad for reasons he couldn't understand

He would have to ask his sensei if there was a way of understanding the female mind. Sadly that was one subject that Zeref wasn't a master of it

Beside that there hasn't being anything noteworthy happenings here in Nami. Anko and Kakashi had the job of supervising the bridge's reconstruction while Naruto, Sasuki, Mito and Menma would normally either escort Tazuna or Kaiza to wherever they went or would stay and watch over the house.

There was something that none of the Genins knew though. It was part of the second mission Minato had given to both Kakashi and Anko. Since Konoha and Nami traded goods every since the bridge was built it was important to not let it destroyed or to let someone else terrorize Nami to submission

For this Minato had tasked both Kakashi and Anko to find the leader of the group that was trying to create chaos in Nami and deal with them accordingly.

Both Tazuna and Kaiza had already been informed of this, and they were both grateful for Konoha's help. They even said that if Konoha helped them with this one Nami would always be an ally of Konoha, even if it was only for trading goods.

It was for that reason that every night, after leaving a clone to make guard around Tazuna's house, both Kakashi and Anko would go and scout the area, searching for the base of whoever was leading the attacks to the bridge. They guessed that the base wouldn't be that far from Nami itself, and they were right. Just a few days ago they had found their little camp. It was filled with thugs and low-life criminals that thought that they could control Nami like Gato had once tried.

Sadly both Jounins didn't get the chance to see the leaders face. They knew where he was. It was quite obvious considering that there tent in the camp that was obviously for the leader of the group.

From Tazuna's house to the campmate it took both Anko and Kakashi little more than two hours to go between the places. Both Jounins had left the night before, around midnight in fact, in order to deal with them by themselves. They didn't tell the Genins simply because, in their opinion, they weren't ready for this.

They had left a note saying that they had left in order to deal with some problems, and that they would be back early the next day.

Right now Naruto was walking in the deep of Nami's forest. Normally he would have already reached the spot in which he usually talked to Haku, but today was different

Someone was tailing him

He knew who she was. He had been patient and had been walking around in circled. Heck, he even stood in the same place for a while, waiting for the person that decided to follow him today to just leave. He didn't want her to know the exact location of the place that had become his favorite spot in this forest, and he was sure that she would give up after a while of him just walking around doing nothing

He was apparently wrong though.

Naruto stopped moving and just stood there, taking deep and calming breaths. If it was Sasuki he wouldn't be really mad, just a little annoyed, but why was _she_ following around like that? He was able to work and act civil towards her, but if this were the things she was going to do, spy on him, then this time was truly doomed to fail.

"Come out of there already, Mito. You're not fooling anyone" said Naruto to no one in particular, almost like he was talking alone, but he knew she heard him, and it was proved once that the form of Mito Uzumaki-Namikaze appeared in front of him after jumping from a tree.

For a few seconds neither Naruto nor Mito said anything. Naruto's eyes looking directly at Mito, while the red-headed girl couldn't match her Nii-san stare. She felt embarrassed that her Nii-san discovered her so easily, and know she was afraid that she might have pissed him off by doing following him

But she had to! What if her Nii-san ended up in troubles or something like that!? What if something happened while he was here!? What if someone attacked him!? Mito would never forgive herself if something happened to her beloved Nii-san and she wasn't there to either stop it or help him

That was the problem with this relationship. Mito wanted to protect someone that didn't need nor wanted protection

Specially if it was her who did the protection

"Why were you following me?" Naruto asked bluntly, and his question, along with his cold voice, actually made Mito flinch.

"I'm sorry, Nii-san. I just wanted to make sure you were right.I-I have been worried about you" answered Mito while looking directly at Naruto's cold eyes, although the last part was said with a downcast gaze, which made her unable to see how Naruto's eyes went from expressionless to a hard glare

Meanwhile Naruto scoffed mentally, his feelings for her former sister passing though his hearth. From everyone in that cursed family she had been the only one to show him love and care, to act like he was a real member of the family, to make him feel welcomed, loved, wanted, and not like a waste of space, of someone that would be better of death

And that what made her the worse of that family

For seven years, she was his life-line. She was the only light in the darkness that was his life. It was hard, but he could have lived without the rest of his family as long as he had her. As long as he had her dear Mito-Nee-chan by his side he knew he could have been happy

But then she turned her back on him, and became exactly like the rest of her cursed family

And that hurt more than any other training that Zeref gave him and beating that the people of Konoha could ever give him

He was used to feel unloved by the rest of his former family, but to see the only person that ever showed him love turn the cold shoulder to him and start treating him like a pest was the thing that truly broke Naruto on the inside. It was after that that he truly felt worthless. He felt like he was truly better of death. He had lost the only family he ever had.

It was for that reason that he accepted Zeref so easily.

Naruto had nothing and no one, so when someone offered him a hand; he took him as fast as he could

It was sad though, how the life of this two brothers and sister was so deeply affected by the act of certain white haired man

But such was the life of a pawn in the great game that was the war between the Gods

"Stop joking around Mito. Leave and don't do this ever again" said Naruto, his voice cold and emotionless, hiding the building anger that was inside of him. The young blonde turned around, wanting to end this little meeting with his former sister already

But it wouldn't be that easy

Mito's head moved so fast that it almost made a sound, her violet eyes looking at the back of her Nii-san with a mix of shock, disbelief and hurt. Joking? He thought she was joking? What was that supposed to mean? He thought she didn't love him? How could he believe that?! Mito knew their relationship wasn't the best, but she didn't thought it was this bad!

She had to fix it

Now

"Wait, Nii-san!" all but yelled Mito while grabbing a hold of Naruto's hand. Sadly for her as soon as she did that Naruto snatched his hand away from his grip while turning to see her, this time not hiding how angry he was.

His glare mad Mito freeze death cold

"Stop calling me that!" Naruto's voice was cold. He had gotten better at controlling his emotions since his confrontation with Minato and Kushina, so he was not going to start screaming bloody murder now, but he knew Mito would not stop nagging him if he didn't set things straight now "You don't get to call me that. You don't get to act like we're family, Mito. We stopped being that a long time ago. You made that quite clear years ago. It was _you_ who decided to cut me from your life, not me, so you don't get to act like if everything was ok, or like nothing had happened. here's no relationship between us, the only thing that ties me to you and that family of yours if my fricking blood, and if I could I would change that in a heartbeat!" by the end of his rant Naruto was looking at Mito straight at her eyes, his gaze showing cold rage that he felt towards his former sister. In his opinion she had betrayed him, and that was something that he would never forget.

Meanwhile Mito felt that every word her Nii-san yelled at her was like a stab on her hearth. Her mind had a complete shutdown at hearing the harmful words that her Nii-san told her. How could this be? Her worst fear had become true. Her beloved Nii-san hated her. She couldn't believe it, but it was true. Mito could already feel the tears that threatened to escape her eyes.

How could she have messed up so badly? She knew that listening to the stupid Kyubi was going to come and haunt her forever, but wasn't losing the love of her Nii-san like this too much? She knew that what she had done was bad, but she did it to protect him! She did it because of someone targeted him because of her or their family she would never forgive herself for that

She didn't though things would go so bad that her Nii-san would actually say that if he could he would change his blood just to be completely free of their family. That certainly hurt Mito more than anything. She felt like so hopeless in that moment that she could truly say it was the worst day of her life

Sadly it was just beginning

Mito couldn't let this just end like this, she just couldn't! There had to be a way for her to fix this. She just needed to try. She wasn't going to just let her Nii-san walk away from her like this, from her life.

Mito was about to say something, but she was caught up by surprise when Naruto tackled her to the ground, just before a whoosh sound passed over them. Just at it did the thing that made said sound stopped cold when it hit a tree.

As soon as it happen both her and Naruto stood up, and Mito couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her mouth when she saw what made that sound

Stucked in a tree was what could be described as a gigantic sword, but that wasn't the biggest surprise though. No, the surprise was the person that was standing on the sword with his arms crossed over his chest and looking at them with a glare

This person was a tall and noticeably muscular man with pale skin, short spiky black hair, brown eyes, and small eyebrows. His face was being covered by bandages like a mask. His chest was bare, and he was just wearing baggy pants with the striped pattern typical of Kirigakure and mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers. He was also wearing a forehead protector sideways on his head, with the symbol of Kiri on it, and a slash going right through the middle of it

Of course Mito was completely surprised and confused by the appearance of this man, who was obviously a missing Nin. Mito didn't know who he was, but he looked dangerous. Even after all that was just said Mito's primary concern was the safety of Naruto, so she was just about to grab Naruto and make a run for it, since she didn't knew who her enemy was

Naruto's word beat her though

"To see someone like you here... Zabuza Momochi, **_Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist)_**, one of the members of the **_Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū_****_(Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist)_**, I guess I must really curse my luck" Naruto's voice was dead serious while his expression was practically unreadable, but on the inside he was having a maelstrom of rage. Of course as soon as Naruto was told that he was going to a place like Nami he investigated the different missing Nin that someone could find in his Bingo book. It was another thing that Zeref had gotten and just told him to memorize, which he did, so it was no surprise that he recognized Zabuza

The sword was kind of a big clue anyway

Meanwhile Mito was now both more surprised and even more worried. Surprised that her Nii-san knew who this guy was, and dead worried that he was someone so famous. Her Kaa-san had told her stories about the **_Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū_****_(Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist)_**, and they were not pretty, so meting one like this was definitely a reason to be concerned about

Zabuza actually released a nasty chuckle at hearing Naruto's revelation of his info in the bingo book, his eyes looking just at Naruto and acting like if Mito wasn't even there " It seems you're well informed, gaki. In that case you should know why I'm here" and with that both Naruto and Mito were hit by Zabuza's powerful killing intent, which was quite powerful for a Jounin

Naruto stayed calm. He had faced worst when sparring with Zeref. More than once he had faced Zeref's killing intent, as a part of training of course. He could still remember the first time Zeref used it on him. He barely lasted a few seconds before completely passing out because of the fear

Zabuza's was not bad, but Naruto wasn't going to falter just because of it

Mito wasn't managing it that good though. The young red-head was already trembling, her violet eyes were wide in fear, and she was even biting her lower lip hard, almost to the point of drawing blood. She was scared. She had never faced something like this. She had never faced someone like this. He was going to kill her

Of course Naruto noticed this, and even though he could honestly don't care, he knew he couldn't let her like this. At this point fighting was probably their only option. They could try to escape, but that would be hard, especially with Mito paralyzed in fear. Naruto was never one for emotional speeches, but he was going to have to make an exception for this one

"Mito" Naruto's voice showed nothing but determination and calm, his eyes still looking directly at Zabuza, but his call was enough for Mito to look at him "Pull yourself together or we won't be able to get out of this one." and then he did look at Mito straight at her eyes and gave her nod "If we work together we can deal with this situation. We're a team after all. I need you to be strong now, Mito" Naruto could feel the irony in all this. A few minutes ago he was telling her how there was nothing between them, and now he was telling her that he needed her

At hearing her Nii-san's words Mito's confidence raised up. She swallowed and ten released a calming breath before giving him a nod. If her Nii-san needed her then she was not going to fail him.

Never again

Zabuza's expression remained the same, but on the inside he was actually a little impressed in the blonde gaki. He was able to sustain his killing intent and help his teammate to do the same

This was not going to be a team fight though

"I have to admit that I'm curious. Why did you attack us, Zabuza-san?" asked Naruto calmly. The young blonde had many questions in his head. He refused to believe that this was just a coincidence. Zabuza must have come here for a specific reason. Was he targeting Tazuna and his family, so he decided to eliminate Tazuna's bodyguards first? That was probably, but it would also meant that whoever wanted Tazuna dead and Nami under their control had hired missing Nin

And that was never good, especially if one of them was someone like Zabuza Momochi

"Do I need a reason? Maybe I just like to cut little wanna be ninjas like you. You shouldn't worry about my reasons" Zabuza removed the sword from the tree with one hand, making it look like if was as light as feather, and then pointed it directly at Naruto "The thing you should worry is which limb is my sword going to cut first!"

Both Naruto and Mito were more than ready for whatever Zabuza did. They would have to fight. Expecting reinforcement was probably futile. Their senseis were gone and Menma and Sasuki had no clue of where they were. They could try to escape, but running away from someone like Zabuza was not going to be easy unless someone stayed to act as a diversion

That gave Naruto an idea. He could distract Zabuza long enough for her to search for help. Maybe Kakashi and Anko had already returned from wherever they went. Just when Naruto was about to say his plan to Mito he was silenced by Zabuza's next statement

"Haku, deal with the girl" and with that Zabuza appeared just in front of Naruto, his sword already going down in order to cut the blonde in half. Said blonde was barely able to dodge by jumping to the right, making Zabuza stand between him and Mito

Right now Naruto's mind was going a mile per second. Did he really just say Haku? But, that was impossible! There was no way that the Haku he knows, that the kind girl he had been meeting for a week was with Zabuza...right?

Naruto would have going all day thinking about that, but the current situation made him unable to do so since as soon as he dodged Zabuza's first attack the Kiri missing nin was upon him again, his Kubikiribōchō moving in an arc from right to left, ready to cut Naruto in half

The young blonde managed to avoid the attack by jumping just in time. As soon as he did that he channeled his magic into his lungs, ready to go for the offensive for once

**_"Rairyu no Hōkō_****_(Lighting Dragon's Roar)"_** Naruto's lightning spell went directly from his mouth to Zabuza, and Naruto believed that from this distance he wouldn't be able to dodge it.

He was kind of right there. Zabuza didn't dodge the spell. He merely raised his sword and put it between the attack and him. As soon as the blue lightning beam impacted the sword, it looked like the sword was actually absorbing the spell, which of course made Naruto stop with the attack and look at Zabuza's sword, the Kubikiribōchō, in something akin to awe

'That thing just negated my spell, but how? It should be impossible' thought Naruto, noticing that the sword had no damage on it, and that Zabuza wasn't showing surprise at all about this development.

Zabuza once again dashed towards Naruto, but this time the blonde was ready to meet him. Naruto charged both his arms with his **_Yami no Maho (Dark Magic)_** and gave it just one purpose on his mind.

Just like he expected two blades like form of darkness appeared on the low side of his arm, going from his wrist to his elbow. The blades were curved, and were completely black with a purple outline.

Naruto met Zabuza's down cut with his created blades, putting his arms in front of his. The impact actually made a little crater were Naruto was standing, and like he feared Zabuza's sword actually started eating his **_Yami no Maho (Dark Magic)_**, forcing Naruto to pump more magic just so that the blades wouldn't disappear, of course if he stayed too much in this state he would end up without magic, which meant he had to act fast

Which was easier said than done, considering that Zabuza was pressing his sword with all of his strength against him

Naruto overcharged his blades with magic and using his strength he managed to push Zabuza off him and create a distance between them. Just after that Naruto made five Kage Bunshins. Said clones ran directly at Zabuza, but this attack did not surprise the sword-user at all, who looked more than ready to cut every single one of them

Sadly for him as soon as the clones got close enough they actually exploded. The explosion resonated everywhere and created a curtain of smoke big enough for Naruto to use as a diversion to make a run for it. He needed to make a plan, fast. The fact that Zabuza's sword had the impossible ability to absorb magic made this fight just a lot harder that it was

He wasn't the only one meeting a hard foe though

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, with Mito_

The young red-head had been separated from her Nii-san as soon as the fight started. When Zabuza attacked Naruto she was more than ready to help him, but she was stopped by another individual, this one with black hair tied in a bun and wearing an ANBU mask, who started throwing senbu needles at her

She was able to dodge the majority of them but she was still hit by more than a few. Luckily for her the Kyubi inside of her made this wounds heal a lot faster than normal, so she was sill more than ready for this fight

Right now Mito was standing in front of the person that attacked her who, if what Zabuza yelled was correct, was named Haku. Mito wanted to do nothing more but to run and help her Nii-san fight Zabuza, but this Haku person wasn't stopped every tried she did to run to where her Nii-san and Zabuza had ran to fight

**_"Suiton: Teppōdama (Water Release: Gunshot)!"_** yelled Mito after doing the necessary hand seals, throwing a bullet of water from her mouth directly at Haku, who jumped backwards while doing some hand seals just before the just hit her

Mito thought that she just had hit the mark, but when she saw that her jutsu had just hit a tree she tensed again, since Haku had just disappeared. Mito turned around fast as soon as she sensed something on her back, and she was right. Just behind her was a big mirror made of ice. Mito would have commented on how beautiful it was, but she was forced back when, from the mirror, multiple senbon needles were shot directly at her

Mito wasn't able to dodge, so she just used her arms to block as much as she could so that they didn't hit a vital point. It was after that that Mito saw Haku walking out of the mirror, more needles ready on her hand. The young red-head was going to move but she found herself trapped, or to be more specific her feets were trapped on ice.

'What kind of jutsu are these? I have never heard of ice jutsu!' thought Mito before using **_Kawarimi no jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)_** in order to escape her ice shackles and the needles that Haku just threw at her.

From a tree Mito created twenty Kage Bunshins. Said clones took out the katana they had in storage seal on their wrist and went directly at Haku. Mito thought that these clones were going to be a good enough distraction for her to go and find her Nii-san

Sadly for her she was proven wrong when Haku destroyed every clone in a matter of seconds, her speed making her able to do such a deed. Mito was forced to jump out of the tree she was in or else she would have been pierced by Haku's Senbon again, but as soon as she touched the ground her katana clashed with Haku's senbon, which was in her hand

While one of her hand held the senbon Haku was using against Mito's sword, the other hand was completely free, and with that one Haku started doing one-handed seals, making Mito's eyes go wide in surprise by her opponent skills

"**_Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishō_****_(Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)_**!" said Haku before multiple water needles were formed around her and Mito. Haku then jumped backwards, allowing the needles to go directly at Mito, but the young red-head managed to avoid the jutsu by jumping out of its range just before it hit her

It was becoming more obvious to Mito that she wouldn't be able to go and help her Nii-san until she defeated Haku, who was doing her best to stop Mito from leaving

She was going to have to defeat her fast then. There was no way she was going to let this person to get between her and her Nii-san safety

She wasn't going to give this bitch any mercy!

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, with Naruto_

The young blonde was now standing with his back on a tree, doing his best to detect Zabuza.

He had thought about a way to deal with the Kiri missing Nin. He just needed to deal with his sword, but right now he was waiting for the attack that was sure to come, after all the sudden mist that had appeared everywhere was definitely not something normal, and he knew Zabuza was an expert of silence killing, so it was better to stay in guard at every time

Naruto wasn't able to dodge the attack though, since the tree that was on his back, and his whole body too, were cut in half by one clean slice of Zabuza's sword, who decided to attack from behind the tree, after all his sword could easily cut something like wood like it was butter

It wasn't that easy though, since just after his attack, Naruto's body turned into smoke, showing that it was nothing but a Kage Bunshin. Just after Zabuza realized this Naruto's spell was already travelling to hit Zabuza directly at his back.

The spell used was Naruto's **_Rairyū Hōtengeki_****_(Lighting Dragon's Heavenward Halberd)_**, and it was shot by the true Naruto, who was hiding in one of the trees. The powerful lightning spear seemed like it was going to hit Zabuza's back, but in a show of reflex Zabuza didn't even turn around, he just put his sword on his back and held his ground, letting his blade absorb the spell

"Tch, dammit" muttered Naruto in a low voice. The young blonde was just about to get out of his hiding spot since it was obvious Zabuza already knew where he was, but he was launched by force when a powerful kick hit him in the head. Naruto ended up falling into a clearing, blood going from his lower lip to his chin.

"You're not the only one that can play with clones, you know?" Said Zabuza to the now standing from of Naruto, clone standing by his side, which was responsible of the kick Naruto just received. The clone of Zabuza dashed at Naruto with his sword ready to cut, but Naruto moved faster and slashed the clone's torso just when he was going to slash him with his sword, using his **_Rairyu no Saiga (Lighting Dragon's Crushing Fang),_**turning the clone into nothing but water, showing that it was created by Zabuza's **_Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Clone Technique)_**

The real Zabuza took this chance to attack Naruto too, forcing Naruto to once again create blades on his arms to met Zabuza's sword. He could have used kunais, but he didn't want to have his weapon cut in half at the middle of the fight.

Using his blades made by his magic Naruto met Zabuza's cut head on. Every cut that Zabuza did Naruto would parry, block or dodge it, while trying to cut or punch Zabuza by himself. Naruto had the advantage of speed here, but Zabuza was without a doubt a hard opponent

Things became worse when Naruto finally noticed where they were. It was the clearing in which he met Haku. Not only that but they were already fighting in the lake. Naruto cursed in his mind, letting someone like Zabuza in water? He knew he was going to pay for it

Which he did

Zabuza gave Naruto a mighty swing of his sword, stronger that any other he had gave him before. Naruto was able to block it, but the strength behind it was enough to launch him back quite a bit. As soon as he got his bearings Naruto was able to see Zabuza doing some hand seals, his sword on his back.

The young blonde would have taken the chance to attack, but it was to late already, since Zabuza had already finished his jutsu

"**_Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique)!_**" and with that a gigantic and powerful stream of water from the lake was launched directly at Naruto. The young blonde knew that if it hit him he was as good as death, and dodging was impossible at this distance

He had to defend himself

Naruto put his palm on the water of the lake and used his **_Yami no Maho (Dark Magic)_** to create a completely black dome around him. It was a shield. In fact it was the only truly defensive spell that Naruto knew. The dome would be as strong a Naruto's will and the amount of magic he put on the spell, so knowing that Zabuza's jutsu was not weak at all Naruto put a lot of magic on the dome

Zabuza's jutsu hit the dome like expected, and Naruto could feel his shield crumbling under the power of the jutsu, so he put even more magic on it to make sure it sustain the power of the water technique

Finally Zabuza's jutsu reached a stop, and just a second later Naruto's dome disappeared, showing a panting Naruto. Normally creating that dome wasn't that hard, but damn he overcharged it with a lot of magic just to sustain that jutsu

The young blonde wasn't given the time to rest though, since as soon as his dome went off he was met by water, or to be more precise, a dome of water, courtesy of Zabuza, who was now standing just in front of him with one hand holding the dome

"This is my **_Suirō no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique)_**, so unless you know how to breath under water, you're now as good a dead" revealed a smirking Zabuza, although it was hard to tell with his bandages.

Normally a lot of people would panic in this kind of situation, but Naruto wasn't like that. He knew that every technique had a weakness, and he knew the weakness of this one. The one using it had to stay close to the water prison itself, and one of Zabuza's hands was grabbing the dome of water

A plan rapidly formed itself in Naruto's head. The young blonde started to fill all of his body with magic and as soon as he was ready he turned that magic into nothing but electricity and released it all at once.

Like he expected the dome, made of pure water, worked as an excellent conductive for his electricity, and Zabuza, who still had once hand grabbing the dome, was met with a powerful shock all over his body

Zabuza screamed in agony. The feeling of so much electricity running through his body making feel a lot of pain. The missing Nin was not able to hold the prison anymore, and was forced to release Naruto

Said blonde was not going to lose this chance. Zabuza body was twitching, and he was down to one knee. If the man had hold the dome for a few more seconds he would have been knocked out for good, but Naruto wouldn't give him a chance to recover

The young blonde rapidly charged his right arm with his **_Kaminari no_****_Metsuryū Mahō_****_(Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic)_**. Blue sparks appeared on his arm until it was completely covered in blue lightning. Then they electricity started to gain a form. Slowly but surely what could only be described as the head of a reptile, made of nothing but blue lightning with two dots yellow dots that acted like eyes, was formed around Naruto's whole arm

"**_Metsuryū Ōgi: Kaminari Kokuō: Raijin No Hihakai Kiba (Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Lightning King: Raijin's Destructive Fang)!"_** said Naruto before dashing towards the downed Zabuza, his right arm, which had the powerful spell, ready to destroy the Jounin.

However it seemed that Zabuza still had strength in him, since before the spell hit him he unsheathed his massive butcher knife sword and swinger at Naruto. The blonde, not having other choice, met the sword head on with his spell. The mouth of the dragon-like head of lightning that Naruto had around his right arm opened, showing razor-like fangs made of lightning and then closed as soon as the sword got in his mouth

The result was a battle of wills between Zabuza and his sword and Naruto and his spell. Sparks were flying all over the place from the spot in which Naruto's spell was holding Zabuza's sword. The young blonde could already feel the absorbing ability of the Kubikiribōchō acting up, but he was not going to lose now, so Naruto kept pushing, making the fangs of the dragon-like head burry themselves more in Zabuza's sword

Then something happened. Naruto didn't know what but out of the sudden in Zabuza's sword some weird marks appeared on Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō. The marks were completely black and Naruto had no idea what they were, but apparently Zabuza did since his eyes widened in shock at seeing them

Naruto didn't know that they meant, but at this point he had no option but to keep pushing, hoping that they wouldn't affect him badly. Then out of the sudden the marks disappeared, and Naruto stopped feeling the absorbing ability of the Kubikiribōchō disappeared. He wasn't going to look at the horse mouth though, so with a might yell Naruto pressed more his spell, the powerful fangs of the dragon's head making even more damage to the sword.

And then, with one last yell the Kubikiribōchō actually broke in pieces, shocking both Zabuza and Naruto, but the blonde's surprise was short. It was his chance now and he was not going to blow it

Naruto took advantage of Zabuza's shock and put his left palm on the water surface, the dragon-like head form of lightning still on his right arm. Then out of the water four black magic circles appeared in different sports, and from each circle what could be described a black claws shouted out of them, and grabbed hold of Zabuza's arms and legs, making the Jounin unable to move

Naruto then pointed the dragon's head directly at Zabuza's torso. The distance between them was just of a few meters, so this was definitely going to hurt the Kiri missing Nin, if not outright kill him, thought Naruto

"**_Metsuryū Ōgi: Kaminari Kokuō: Raijin no Kyōdaina Hōkō (Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Lightning King: Raijin's Mighty Roar)!"_** and with that the dragon-like head opened and from it a powerful lightning beam shot out of it, going directly at Zabuza's form

The Jounin could do nothing and when the spell hit him it dragged his body, to the shore of the lake. Naruto's spell finally disappeared, and Naruto walked towards the passed out form of Zabuza.

When he got there he was able to watch the damage that his attack made. Zabuza's torso had a big burn mark that completely covers it. His pants were turned into shreds and his body was twitching wildly. It was a miracle that the man was still alive, Naruto was sure that his attack would have killed him, especially at this distance

It was surprising though, the fact that Zabuza still had a hold of the hilt of his destroyed sword.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Just before that, with Mito_

Mito was in trouble. No scratch that, Mito was in some serious shit right now. The young red-head found her trapped in a dome made of ice mirrors that her enemy, Haku, had made a while ago, and Mito had no idea how to go from this point

She had tried to escape, but every time she did, even with clones, she was met with Haku's superior speed and senbon, which was the reason Mito now looked like a porcupine.

The young red-head was truly tired. She had a lot of wounds all around her body, which of course hurt like hell. But she couldn't give up. Her Nii-san might still be in need for her help! She needed to end this

Now

Mito ended up using the last thing she ever wanted to depend on. The thing that made her so famous in her village. The thing that had, in her opinion, ruined her relationship with her Nii-san

The Kyubi

In an explosion of crimson Mito's body was now covered in red demonic chakra, courtesy of the Kyubi that was inside of her. Mito never had any real trouble in using his chakra. Menma neither, but she just didn't like it. She didn't want to depend on the fox to do anything. She wanted to be more than just a Jinchuriki

But right now her Nii-san's life was on the line, so she would do anything in her power to break free and help him

With the extra power that Mito gained it was easy to break the mirrors. Not even Haku's speed helped her escape the young red-head's fury. Mito, after breaking more than a few of her mirrors, was able to land a strong punch on her face, making Haku lose her ANBU mask and for the rest of the ice mirrors to disappear completely

So right now it was once again a staring contest between a red-eyes Mito and a mask less Haku. Mito's face showing anger and determination while Haku's expression stayed calm

Then, out of nowhere both girls heard a powerful roar, coming from the place Haku knew Zabuza was fighting Naruto. Mito didn't knew what had happened, but Haku's next words definitely surprised her even more than the roar

"It looks like our fight must be put to and end now, Mito-san. I just hope we never met again" and with those words Haku disappeared in a **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_**, letting a gaping Mito, who couldn't understand why her opponent had just left

Mito shocks her head to get rid of her thoughts. This was not the time thing about that, she had to find her Nii-san! Not knowing where he was, Mito decided to go to the place from where the roar had originated just before.

She just hoped her Nii-san was ok

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Naruto_

The tired form of the blonde apprentice of Zeref was right now thinking of what to do with Zabuza. On one part he could just kill him and be done with it, but he could also capture him. The reason for his attack was still unknown, so to capture and interrogate him was definitely a good choice

Naruto wasn't able to reach a decision though, since just a few moments after he started thinking a figure appeared just beside Zabuza. Someone that Naruto easily recognized even though she had new attire

"So it was really you... Haku" muttered Naruto, looking at the eyes of a person he considered a friend. Haku on turn just looked directly at Naruto, sadness obvious on the face of the two ninjas

"It was all an act then?! You just wanted to get information from me? Or were you planning to kill me when I had guard low?! Answer me, Haku!" yelled Naruto, the feeling of betrayal he had turning into rage. How could she? No, it was his fault, how could he have trusted someone so easily? Someone he just met a week ago for Kami's sake!

Then why did it hurt so much? She wasn't Sasuki or Zeref, so why was he so hurt by this?

Dammit

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun" said Haku with a sad smile. She wanted to tell him everything. She didn't like the look he was giving her. That look of betrayal. It might just have been a week but it was still special for Haku. She felt that Naruto was someone that could understand her, but now? He probably hated her

And why shouldn't he?

Not knowing what else to do Haku put a hand on Zabuza's barely alive body and left in **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_**, not wanting to see someone that had become special to her with that expression.

Naruto wasn't able to stop her, not did he have the strength to do so anyway, so in the end it was just the blond standing there, still looking at the spot in which Haku was, and he would have stayed here for even more of a while if he wasn't taken back by a yelled "Nii-san!" and a tight hug, coming from none other than a relieved Mito

Mito had just arrived, and of course the first thing she saw was her Nii-san, so like a woman possessed she just ran directly towards him and engulfed him in a tight hug, her head on his chest since he was taller than him

It was at that moment that Mito felt the well toned body of her Nii-san. The young red-head actually blushed a little bit for the thoughts that appeared on her mind out of the sudden. This was hardly the time for that! Her Nii-san might be hurt; she had to check him on now!

Sadly for her Naruto just grabbed her shoulders and broke the hug rather forcibly. Mito was about to ask what is it but she was silenced by the cold glare Naruto was giving her. The young blonde was now definitely not in the mood for this crap from his former sister

Naruto just turned around and started walking. He was tired, angry and his body hurt like hell. He just wanted to rest right now, and forget the fact that someone he considered a friend was helping someone that tried to kill him

"Nii-san wait!" yelled Mito while trying to reach her brother, but she was stopped by his voice

"Don't, Mito" Naruto didn't even turn to address her, and his voice was as cold as tundra "I told you already to not call me that, we're not brother and sister, we're not family and we're only a team because your _father_ couldn't understand that neither. Get that on your tick head and stop wasting my time" and with that Naruto just left walking, never turning around

Never noticing how his words finally made Mito burst into tears

And of course, never noticing her sobbing form that stayed there, the words of the person she loved the most breaking her hearth in a million of pieces

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, in Tazuna's bridge_

"Dammit!" yelled an angry Menma, his fist smacking the ground hard

The bridge itself looked definitely worst that when they got here. Multiple scorch marks, cuts and formations of crystal were lying around the place

Both Menma and Sasuki were there. One was punching the ground, angry at himself for losing a fight, while the other one was just looking at the result of their fight against the woman that attacked them, her new Sharingan displayed proudly

The two of them were attacked while they were escorting Tazuna to his bridge. As soon as they got there a woman made her presence known and without saying anything she just started attacking them

They managed to get all the workers and Tazuna himself out of harm before starting to fight the woman seriously, but they weren't able to do shit against her

They tried, they truly did. Menma had even used the Kyubi's chakra and Sasuki was using her Sharingan, which was unlocked at the middle of the fight, but they still weren't able to defeat the woman, in fact she dominated the fight completely

She could have even kill them more than once, but she didn't, almost like she was playing with them

That of course didn't set well with neither of them, but they couldn't do much. Their senseis were gone and their teammates were lost too, so they just fought until for some reason the woman just decided to leave, of course leaving more than one question on the mind of both Genins

Sasuki's Sharingan were just looking directly at the result of most of that woman's jutsu. A shard of pink crystal that was on her hand. She didn't even got the woman's name, but she knew something new now

**_Shōton_****_(Crystal Release)_**was a bitch to fight against

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, on a camp miles away from Nami_

The place that once was the camp of the criminals that wanted to take Nami for themselves was now nothing short of a war zone. Everything was destroyed and dead bodies were everywhere. Some where complete while others were nothing but ashes now

On the middle of the place were three people, two on one side and another one in the other. The duo was someone that everyone in Konoha knew, Kakashi Hatake and Anko Mitarashi

Both of them were panting hard. Kakashi had his Sharingan out and was glaring at the third individual while Anko was on her knees, a nasty burn present on her leg and was also glaring at the third person, who acted like the glares he was receiving were nothing

This third person had long and spiky blond hair that reaches down to his lower back. He had a psychotic grin on his face as he showed his teeth. His red pupils consisted of several concentric circles, which further enhance his crazed appearance. He was wearing a yellow and dark blue skirt-like armor with a red waist ribbon, and on his torso he was wearing a sleeveless jacket that was completely black with red clouds, but both the sleeves and the borders of the jacket looked like they were ripped off.

Just after Kakashi and Anko ended their mission they were suddenly attacked by this third individual without mercy. They had tried to fight him off but even though they were two of Konoha's top Jounin, this guy was still able to defeat the two of them without sustaining that much of damage

It didn't help either that he was able to actually _eat_ every **_Katon (Fire Release)_** jutsu that they used. This guy was the definition of monster. His speed was definitely at least Kage level, he was immune to fire, and he was able to create a destructive black fire that more than once almost killed them

And he did defeat them without even breaking a sweat. But right now they were in a stalemate. The crazy guy stopped attacking them as soon as a weird clay bird appeared on his shoulder.

The man cursed loudly about stupid people ruining his fun and about weak swordsman being defeated so fast to the bird, before giving the two Jounin a wide and crazy grin and then the bird flew towards them and exploded with a flash half the way

When the smoke disappeared and they were able to open their eyes the man was no more. He just disappeared like he was never there to begin with, but neither Anko nor Kakashi would forget any time soon the individual that defeated them so easily, or the last words he said, which just made his identity even more clearer. They had already a good guess of who he was, but it was now official

"I hope next time you will be able to give me a proper challenge, or you two will die by the flames of a god"

He was the S-rank criminal known as Zancrow, the **_Hinokami (Fire God)_**

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**And that was the Wave arc (if you can still call it like that). The biggest purpose of this fic was to show that Zeref is not alone and that he has not been losing his time neither, and to present both Haku and Zancrow, characters that will be really important for future arcs**

**I really don't think that writing fights is something I'm good at, but I hope that this one wasn't so bad.**

**Once again this chapter ended up becoming larger that I thought it would be, but oh well, next one is definitely going to be shorter, and will probably come out sooner**

**Just so you know, the only ones that are secured in the harem are FemSasuke (Sasuki), Haku, Fu and Mito. Beside that who knows? someone else might be while it also possible that I would just stay with four girls, it will depend if I manage to make the harem act real enough with this many girls**

**Once again thanks to everyone that fav, followed or reviewed this fic. And of course special thanks to Daxter2234 for helping me in some stuff with this cap.**

**Next Chapter: We see the start of the journey, not of Naruto, but of Zeref**


	10. Dark Lord's Journey: Rebirth

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama'**Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

**_"Rasengan"_** Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: Just a heads-up. Everything in this chapter happens shortly after the conversation between Shinigami and Zeref back at the prologue**

**Chapter 0.1**

**Dark Lord's Journey: Rebirth**

Black eyes snapped open, an emotionless gaze directed to the night sky, the stars and the top of the trees that were in the person's gaze

The owned of said eyes easily felt the ground in which he was laying, the distinctive feeling of earth combined with some grass easily showing him that he was lying in what probably was natural soil

The man easily stood up, his black eyes looking at every inch of his current location. He was in a forest, that much was obvious, but _where_ exactly was this place? And what was he doing here? Wasn't he killed by E.N.D?

Just at that moment all the memories of his meeting with the Shinigami came rushing back to his mind, which actually made him stumble a little bit, his right hand washing over his face and jet-black hair. He remembered everything now. The Shinigami's offer and his acceptation of said offer. His meeting with one of the Shinigami's _servants_. The task that the Shinigami gave him and the 'gifts' that he received from the god

His eyes were now focused on the back of his right palm, in which the kanji of 'death' resided. A seal, he remembered, that the Shinigami put on him to control his powers. With this thing on he had basically lost his power over death that made him so feared. He wouldn't miss them though, that power had bring him nothing but despair at the end

His immortality was still there though, or at least the fact that he stopped aging was. He could easily feel it.

Zeref could also feel the Shinigami's other gift, even though he was not able to see it. He could feel said object in his own pocket dimension, the one he used to store stuff thanks to his skills over the magic known as **_Kansō_****_(Reequip)_**

With that came a weird sensation. Normally he could easily feel the Etherano that was always a part of his world. It was said Etherano the thing that let mages do magic, but now he couldn't feel it. He could feel _something_, but whatever it was it definitely wasn't the Etherano he knew

"It seems you have finally awaken, Zeref-kun" said a smooth voice from behind the man known as Zeref. Said man would have reacted a lot more violently if someone sneaked behind him so easily, but he recognized that voice easily enough.

"Alcor" Zeref said, turning to look at the white haired servant of the Shinigami that was smiling at him. It wasn't a kind or playful smile though. No, it was a smile that was as fake as Zeref appearance if you compared it with his age. Almost no one would be able to know it was a fake smile though, but for Zeref it wasn't that hard to notice it

He was good at reading people after all, and even if this guy wasn't a human, he still looked like one, although that did not made Zeref trust him at all

"You must have a lot of questions, Zeref-kun, and don't worry, they will be answered soon, but right now there's something you need to see, and we better not miss it" said Alcor with a clap, that smile of his still on his face and his eyes squinted like always. Zeref wanted to ask more than one thing, but he was in unknown territory, with his most powerful power sealed. He decided to simply go with the flow for now.

Zeref was someone that preferred to act than react, but right now he really was a fish out of the water

With no more words Alcor actually _flew_ to the top of one of the trees, and then signaled Zeref to follow him. Said dark mage did, although in a less magnificent way, and simply jumped to where Alcor was. It wasn't difficult; he just needed to put some magic on his legs and making a jump like this one was quite easy

Heck, he could fly too, but he found it unnecessary, and he believed that Alcor just did it like that to just show off

The white haired man kept levitating and the dark lord followed him. They kept going around the place that Zeref just dubbed as 'the forest' until Alcor simply stopped and kneeled on the tree branch he had stopped. Zeref also stopped in the same branch, just before Alcor signalized him to not make any noise and to just watch

And watch he did

He saw it all. He saw how a group formed of three man were dragging a red-haired girl to Kami knows where. He saw how a blonde boy appeared out of nowhere. He saw how said blonde boy defeated the three men in an impressive show of skill for someone of his age, specially his speed. He saw how the blonde boy comforted the red-haired girl, and then he saw how the blonde boy carried the girl back to the path they had come before

During all the event Zeref's face stayed emotionless. He truly didn't know if he was supposed to care about this or not, so he just watched it with Alcor, who looked actually quite amused by everything that was going on. Just then a thought entered Zeref's head, and a question escaped his lips

"Is one of them the one I have to train?" asked Zeref, cutting straight to the chase, his black eyes now looking at Alcor, who released an amused chuckle, his red eyes looking at Zeref's black ones

Zeref knew why he was brought here. He had accepted the Shinigami's mission. It was quite simple in fact. There was apparently going to be a catastrophe in this world. One that would at least at the same level of his most powerful creation: E.N.D. And he has to train someone that would be able to stop said catastrophe.

Just the thought of his creation brought a big amount of shame and regret to Zeref heart. How could he have created something like E.N.D? Something so inhuman, so destructive, so evil! How could he have let his hate blind him so much?

He had let his hate for his world to consume him. The world had rejected him for something he had no control of, so he had rejected the world. He had brought despair to the world that wanted him dead, and he felt nothing while doing it, but now he felt nothing but self-loathe. He had become the very same monster people said he was. He had killed in cold blood, he had created monster of nightmares, and he has destroyed lives.

And he had even betrayed the only person that never saw him as the monster he was

The dark mage had no excuse. Even if it wasn't him the one that brought destruction to his world, it was still his creation the one that did it. And it was E.N.D itself the one that brought an end to his life too.

Zeref was more than ready to accept death. He believed that it would be the only possible end for him. It was quite poetic though, being killed by the creation he made to destroy mankind.

But now he was offered a second chance. Zeref didn't know if doing the Shinigami's task would really get rid of all the hate he had for himself, but at this point he would do anything in order to correct his sins.

He didn't know if helping this world would do that, but it was at least at start

"No they aren't, Zeref-kun. They _are_ important, but it's my job to keep an eye on them, not yours. Your little task will take some time to start" answered Alcor, getting a small nod from the dark mage

The Shinigami had explained Alcor's role to him. He was going to be sent to another world and Alcor would be his... link to the Shinigami while he was there. Basically Alcor was the messenger between him and the Shinigami.

But Zeref was not a fool. It was clear to him what Alcor's second job was. Basically Alcor would be keeping an eye on him, just to make sure he didn't go out of line or ignore his mission. To be honest Zeref didn't know what Alcor would do if he did something that the white haired man didn't like. It was hard to figure the white haired man's strength. Zeref didn't know at this point if he would be able to defeat someone that was the servant of a God, so he would have to play by the rules until he got enough information about his watcher

After all he might have accepted the Shinigami's offer, but he wasn't going to let his little follower to play puppet master with him.

"Who am I going to train then?" Zeref was more than curious about who would become his apprentice. He never had one, and his creations hardly counted as one. He was also curious about what he would be able to teach to whoever became his apprentice, after all considering that this world didn't have Etherano it was safe to assume that magic, if they had any, was definitely different here

"I'll tell you when the times is right, Zeref-kun" was Alcor's cryptic answer, getting Zeref's eyes to narrow a little bit on his direction. Why the mystery? Was there something wrong happening? Or was Alcor just a prick that liked to play mysterious?

Considering how much he knew about this man, any of those options was quite possible

"Now now, Zeref-kun, you shouldn't be thinking things so rude about me. That's not the start of a healthy relationship, now is it?" continued the white haired man, apparently figuring out Zeref's thoughts, his fake smile turning a little wider, and his eyes becoming quite darker than before. Of course these things brought Zeref on edge almost instantly, but he wasn't ready for the surge of pain that came from his right hand, and that developed to his whole body as soon as started

Zeref almost feel from the branch he was kneeling. He hadn't felt this amount of pain in a while. Considering how powerful he was it was weird for the dark mage to feel pain, let alone at the magnitude that he was feeling righ literally could feel a thousand knives being stabbed on his body. He could also feel his insides burning, and it was only his training that stopped him from screaming

But as soon as started it ended. For Zeref it felt like hours, but in reality it only lasted for a few seconds. The dark mage was on his knees and panting, and when he raised his head he could easily see the excitement in Alcor's eyes

He wasn't even trying to hide it

"Now let's make one thing straight right now, Zeref-kun, just to avoid any future... difficulties" said Alcor, his head tilted to one side and his voice making it seam like he was talking to a little child "You had brought a lot of problems to my Lord simply because your little creation ended up destroying your world. I don't like that. If you ask me Shinigami-sama should just eat your soul and be done with you, but he gave you a chance, and I hope you don't fail, Zeref-kun, for your own good"

"If I ever tell you to do something, you'll do it, because whatever I order you to do it will be an order from Shinigami-sama himself, and I won't let you disobey him. And just like you just felt, the consequence for disobeying his orders can be quite... severe" Alcor continued, touching the back of his hand at the last part. At that moment Zeref understood. The seal he had on his hand wasn't only to control his powers

It was also, to put it simply, a leash

"But I'm sure it won't come to that, right, Zeref-kun?" and with that Alcor's dark expression went back to his normal fake smile and squinted eyes "Now come on Zeref-kun, I'm sure you have plenty of questions and I'm here to help of course!"

Alcor one again levitated, only this time it was to the opposite direction. Zeref thought that at this point he was beyond just getting angry for some petty stuff, but this guy had basically just told him that he was his little bitch.

Of course the dark lord didn't like that, but he was far from impulsive. He had accepted this task; he just didn't read the small letters on the contract. He would have to learn to tolerate Alcor. At least for now of course.

He had every intention to accomplish his task, but he wasn't going to let this man, or his God, to act like he was their dog. Even if a big part of him felt that he deserved far worse for what he had done, he still didn't like to be bent at another one's will. He would have to examine the seal on his hand closely from now on, and who knows? He might even find a way to cut the connection between Alcor and him

He knew it was unlikely, but he could always hope

Pushing his thoughts aside Zeref could do nothing else but to follow Alcor. He didn't know where the white haired man was leading him, but Zeref already found himself feeling quite the dislike to the man. Even ignoring the little torture he just suffered, there was something about Alcor that put him on edge

Once again he would have to just learn how to live with it. He was after all trapped with him from now on

And with that the two being from other world disappeared in the night, going on the opposite direction on the village known a Konoha

The beginning of a journey. Some people would call it like that, but for Zeref it was something else

It was his path to personal redemption

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile_

In another dark void, very similar to the one in which Zeref meet the Shinigami, was a throne.

This throne was one befitting of nothing less than a king. Its general color was crimson, with small black gems all over it. At the back of the throne there was a curious sign hat looked like two black wings, with a crown over them.

The throne wasn't the most eye-catching figure of this void though. No, that title was reserved for the handsome man that was sitting cross-legged on said throne, a coup of wine on his right hand and a chest piece, which had his current attention, on his left hand

This man could be the dictionary definition of a handsome gentleman. This man had high aristocratic features. He had pail skin, blonde hair that was combed back that went a little bit past his shoulders, mismatched eyes with one being blue and the other one red, and a charming smile that would have any woman swooning over him or becoming a stuttering and blushing mess. His attire was quite simple but elegant: violet business suit with matching pants, black shoes and a yellow tie.

The man's appearance wasn't the only thing that standed out from this man though. His presence itself was one that no human would ever be able to simulate. This man had an aura of unstoppable power that made everyone close to him to either kneel in reverence or pass out in fear

Such was the presence of Yami, God of Darkness and Despair

**"So you made your move, brother"**Yami's smooth voice resonated everywhere, his focus still on the chest piece that was on his hand "**I do hope you play the game better than our dear sister, brother of mine, or else my victory will be to shallow for my like"**

The blonde god took a sip of his drink, his eyes closed and his mind wandering. He easily felt the new presence, or in his mind 'piece', that had entered the battlefield that was the Elemental Nations. It wasn't hard for Yami to feel Zeref's presence, after all right now he had his whole attention in that world, and someone as particular as Zeref, who had been under Yami's watchful gaze every since his birth, was easy enough to spot

Yami of course knew the reason for Zeref to not be right now suffering of his dear brother's torment. It appeared that dear Shinigami had managed to secure Zeref for his side, and Yami couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped his lips at that thought. With the addition of Zeref to his dear brother's side this game had become even more interesting than before

And if there was something that Yami enjoyed, it was a good game such as this

Yami's unmatched eyes opened and his focus went to the dark void that extended in front of him. In said dark void four figures appeared in a vortex of shadows. As soon as said vortex disappeared Yami got a good look at some of the being that were bounded to him

The first being, which was the one on the right, was a man with grayish brown skin, with some parts of his body, including his face, covered in white. The man's body was covered in a red cloak with a hood, but you could easily his legs, hands, face and yellow eyes. This being was known as Nebiros

To the far left there was an old man, with red skin and a long white beard that reached the middle of his chest and more hair going out of the side of his head, leaving the top bald. This old man was just wearing a blue tunic that covered all of his body. This being's was known as Agares

In the middle of this two there was a third figure, this one being a lot more inhuman that the other two. For starters he was quite bigger, easily towering over everyone else here. Second his appearance was actually quite cartoonish in comparison with everyone else. His body was completely black; around his neck he had something collar that was pointy and purple in color. On the top of his big round head was something a like to a hat that had pointy hears coming out of it, which was also purple in color. He had big red eyes and a big grin that showed nothing but two fangs. This weird subject was known as Black Frost

The last person was, in fact, a little girl and was actually sitting in Black's Frost head. This young girl appeared to be 10 years old and had blonde hair that reached her shoulders, pale skin and a blue dress that reached her knees. Her eyes were also golden in color and she had a small smile on her face. This young girl was known as Alice

As soon as they appeared Nebiros, Agares and Black Frost kneeled in front of their leader, Black Frost being slower thanks to his height. Alice didn't even bother to climb down of Black Frost's head and just gave Yami a bigger smile, which he actually returned with one of his own.

**"You called for us, Master?"**asked Nebiros, his gaze low. Agares and Black Frost were doing the same, but Alice acted like there was no problem in the world, and simply waved her hand at Yami.

**"Indeed I did"** and in a blink of an eye an actual chessboard appeared in front of Yami. Said chessboard had its pieces already set, with one side having black pieces and the other one having red ones. There were a few pieces missing though. To be more precise both Kings pieces were missing and the black side was lacking the Queen.

**"It seems that my dear brother had already started to make his move"** Yami continued, carefully putting the chess piece he had on his hand, which happened to be a black Queen, on the chessboard where it belonged **"And he has recruited the help of none other than dear Zeref"**

**"Do you need us to deal with Zeref, Master?"** asked Agares in a deep voice. Of course almost every servant of Yami knew about Zeref and E.N.D since they were some of their Master more ambitious project.

At hearing this Yami released another amused chuckle, his cup of wine disappearing of his hand, which he then used to rest his face in **"There's no need for that. I am, in fact, curious about what Zeref will do now that he's part of this little game. Besides, if I wanted Zeref to be deal with I would send****_him_****, not you, after all I more than anyone knows of young Zeref's power, and any of you here would be hard pressed to fight him... If he goes all out that is"**

Both Agares and Nebiros just nodded their heads, after all if their Master said so then it must be true.

**"Mou! When am I going to see Onii-chan! He has been gone for too long!"** complained a pouting Alice, using her hands to actually pull the ears from Black Frost head, making the giant monster to actually sweat a little bit

**"Alice-chan, it hurts!"** whined Black Frost, his voice complementing his cartoonish appearance perfectly. The giant being tried to reach the young girl with his hands, but they just couldn't reach the top of his in which Alice was pulling his ears

Yami released another chuckle before answering **"I'm sorry my dear Alice, but your Onii-chan is right now doing an important task. Why don't you play with Nebiros until he finish his task? I'm sure he wouldn't mind, right, Nebiros?**

The red clad man couldn't help but to flinch at hearing that. He, like many others, had the horrible pleasure of being Alice's... playmate. Such a horrible experience should never be repeated, in Nebiro's opinion of course. To this day he could still not understand how his captain and Yami's right handed man could tolerate the blonde brat so easily

To put it simply, it was only thanks to Nebiro's necromantic abilities that he was still alive

**"Y-yes of course, Master"** answered Nebiro's, and from the corner of his eye he could easily see the way too innocent smile that Alice was now giving him

It made him shudder; knowing that if he just died once while playing with her it would be a miracle

**"Perfect. In that case please go and do what you were doing. I'll call you once I need your input in this matter"** The amusement on Yami's voice was not missed

**"Hai!"**

**"Hai!"**

**"Hee Hoo!"**

**"Bye bye!"**

And with that the four figures disappeared, leaving Yami alone once again in this dark void. The blonde God's attention easily went to the chessboard once again, his eyes shining with curiosity and intrigue

**"What is your plan, brother?"** Yami wondered, feeling at excitement since this was the first time he would ever have a personal game against his brother and not his sister **"I wonder how will this end, after all I still don't have my most important piece in the battlefield... but you don't have yours neither, do you brother? No, of course you don't. Zeref might be important but he's not your ace... but then, who is it?**

Yami's charming smile turned predatory out of nowhere and his unmatching eyes were now shinning with nothing but contempt. Without any kind of warning the chessboard was caught in crimson flames until not even ashes remained out of it

Then another chest piece, this time a red King, appeared on Yami's left hand, and the God's eyes glimmed with no little amount of anticipation

**"It won't matter though... You can bring armies if you want, dear brother of mine, but whatever you're planning ****_will _****fail"**

A dark red aura covered Yami's frame, result of his excitement. He couldn't help it though. Every time he thought about feeling _that_ again it just brought him no little amount of excitement. He had never felt something so... _wonderful_ in his long life, and now he was craving for it

Despair was his food, and now he wanted the main course once again

**"Yes... E.N.D will rise once again..."**

Yami closed his eyes and took some calming breaths. He always had this little problem. He couldn't help it though, especially not now that his plan was so close to become a reality.

And once it became that, a reality, then there would be no one stopping him. Not even his dear brother and sister

Yes. He would bath in the despair that slaying his fellow Gods would bring

But sadly right now he could do nothing but to just observe and wait until his most loyal servant did his task

**"Oh well, Kami-chan always said that patience was a virtue"**

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Short chapter, I know, but this kind of chapters will probably be short, and will always follow the same formula: A view of Zeref in the Elemental Nations before meeting Naruto and then a glimpse into one of the Gods agenda.**

**Just to make sure, there aren't any OC in this chapter. Every character that appeared was taken out of another anime/game (making OC is not my thing). If you can recognize them awesome for you, and if you can't it doesn't really matters since everything that you guys will need to know about them will be revealed in the future**

**Next chapter of course will follow the present plot once again, and this kind of chapters will appear randomly**

**Once again thanks to everyone that favorite, followed, reviewed or just read this fic (which already went past the 100k view mark and the 1000 followers/favorites mark. You guys are truly awesome!)**

**Next Chapter: Confrontations between Naruto and Zeref, and Mito and Kushina! ****And the Chunin Exams arc starts**


	11. Not Everything is What It Look's Like

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama'**Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

**_"Rasengan"_** Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**Chapter 9**

**Not Everything is What It Look's Like**

"Oh boy, and here I was starting to think that you weren't pathetic, Zabuza-_chan_, but now I see that you and being weak are a couple, aren't you?" said a smirking Zancrow, his red eyes that showed no little amount of craziness looking directly at the lying form of Zabuza Momochi, who was now being tended by Haku since the wounds he got in the fight against Naruto were not pretty things

"Why don't you go and fuck yourself with a knife until you die you piece of trash!" snarled an angry Zabuza, truly not tolerating Zancrow's taunts, even though this was by far not the first time he said stuff like that. On the side of the bed the normal calm and pacific Haku was actually glaring at Zancrow with no little amount of dislike

It was, after all, really hard _not_ to dislike the man

Zancrow, however, seemed to take all of that in stride, not really caring at all. With his smirk still on his face he easily grabbed what was left of Zabuza's sword, which was the hilt and half of the blade itself, from the table and started looking at it with a finger on his chin.

"So let me get this straight, Zabuza-chan. First our dear Zeref actually upgrades your toy here with some runes so that it can absorb magic. Then he sends you to fight a little boy who has probably just started to notice girls, but then you go and actually lose to said boy, and he even broke your toy here" said Zancrow putting the sword away and shocking his head while approaching Zabuza until he got to his side.

Then he put a hand on the swordsman shoulder and with pity on his eyes he said "I'm sorry my friend, but you have an incurable decease called 'Being a Weakling'. I'm sorry to tell you that we will have to put you down for good"

Zabuza was nor filled with rage, and he was more than ready to get up and beat the now smirking Zancrow, but a hand of his chest, courtesy of Haku, made him stop. The young girl was not happy though, and she was more than ready to say some nasty things to Zancrow if her glare was anything to go by, but before she could do that Zancrow raised his palm at her stopping her in her tracks

"Sorry cutie pie, but if your next words are not some kind of sexual proposition then I really don't care about them" said Zancrow, making Haku's cheeks to go red in both embarrassment and fury at his words. The young ice user was about to say what was on his mind, but she was stopped once again by another voice that was entering the room in which they were

"Zancrow, that's enough. If you came here just for that then either leave or shut up before I make you" The emotionless voice of Zeref resonated in the room. Zancrow ended up having a staring contest with the dark mage, which ended up with him just looking away with a "Tch" before just moving to a side of the room without a word

The room in which they were right now was quite simple and big, being able to hold all of them and have enough space to move freely. Said room few stuff, just a bed, in which Zabuza was still lying and boring hole's at Zancrow's head, and a table, in which Zabuza's broken Kubikiribōchō was.

Zeref approached the bed, his black eyes looking directly at Zabuza's eyes. The swordsman did not feel unnerved though, he was after all already used to his leader's emotional displays, or lack of them to be precise

"Report" that was everything Zeref needed to say for Zabuza to start describing his fight with Naruto with as much details as he could. Both he and Haku had just arrived yesterday, and Zabuza's wounds were too grievous for him to report to Zeref immediately, so they waited a day for him to wake up, which he did a few hours ago.

By the end of Zabuza's report, Zeref looked just the same, almost like he didn't care about what he just heard. Then the dark mage approached what was left of Zabuza's sword, and after holding it for a few moments and passing his hands through what was left of the sword Zeref easily got the information he needed

He _had_ put a special set of runes on this blade just for this mission. A simple way of describing runes was that they were like the seals that some Shinobi use in this world, only that runes are powered by magic and not chakra.

There were of course some difference between seals and runes, but Zeref didn't know a lot about seals in the first place, so knowing every little difference was something he didn't know.

The runic array he had implanted in this sword had been an easy one. The sword's ability to be repaired with blood made it quite easy. The runes just made it so that the sword could 'eat' magic to repair itself just like it did with blood.

However based on what Zabuza had just told him and what he just got from the sword, it looked like Naruto had actually managed to overpower the runes to the point where they stopped working.

Honestly Zeref had made it like this expecting Naruto to either find a way to separate Zabuza from his sword or to be able to strike him beside's the blade, but no. His apprentice had actually managed to overpower a creation of his

Of course Zeref was not a master of runes, but he believed that he was good enough to make something durable, although he hadn't put as much details as he could on the runic array, thinking that Naruto would not be able to do something like this

His apprentice had surprised him once again

"Zabuza, don't feel ashamed about loosing. Naruto-kun's powers are greater than I thought, especially considering how young he is" This got a nod from the swordsman, and then Zeref's gaze went directly to Zancrow "And I don't understand why are you making fun of him for loosing; after all didn't you too lose to another Dragon slayer? One that even had your same element?" at hearing that Zancrow's eye started to twitch. He really didn't like to be reminded of his defeat against Salamander of all people

Zabuza's smirk wasn't helping either

Before anyone could say anything else Zeref's eyes went directly to Haku, who sat a little straighter at being at the receiving end of that emotionless gaze

"And you?" asked Zeref, to which Haku took a deep breath before starting to tell her tale. She first started with her fight against Mito. Zeref had already heard the reports coming from both Zancrow and Guren about their encounters with the rest of Naruto's team, and beside's the Uchiha girl unlocking the Sharingan there wasn't anything worth mentioning in their fights.

Sure they might be strong for their age, but they still stood no chance against _anyone_ from Zeref's group

Zancrow's fight went just the same. Kakashi and Anko were definitely strong, but Zancrow was simply stronger than them. Zeref had made sure that Zancrow became strong, after all if he was going to be forced to work together with the insane God Slayer then he might as well put him to a good use

After reporting her fight Haku hesitated for a moment before explaining her meeting with Naruto the week prior to his and Zabuza's fight, and his reaction when he found out she was with Zabuza. Of course she said all of that with a sad expression on her face, knowing that, even though she had followed orders, she had still being the cause of emotional pain to someone who she had actually started caring more than she should for someone she just meet for a week

She couldn't help it though. Zeref had given her, and only her, a little resume of Naruto's life, and she felt nothing but sadness for the young blonde and rage at those that treated him so badly. In a way she could easily understand his pain. To being treated like less than dirt just because people thought you were different, and to be betrayed by the ones that should love their child.

Yes, she could easily understand his pain.

Zeref released a sigh at hearing about his apprentice behavior towards Haku. This was one of the things he feared, which was the reason he had sent Haku in the first place. Zeref had hoped that Naruto's emotional scars weren't that big, but he guessed he was a fool for thinking like that

He would have to have a chat with Naruto as soon as he returned from his mission, although if Naruto managed to pass the third part of this little test, then it would be one interesting conversation

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_A week later, Konoha's entrance_

A week has passed since the multiple 'incidents' Team 7 had on their first C-rank mission, and to say that things were tense between some members of the team would be to put it lightly

Because of their wounds it took both Anko and Kakashi more time to get back to Nami, and when they did the first thing they noticed was that the bridge looked like a rather nasty fight had gone over it. Of course this worried both Jonins, so they tried to reach Tazuna's house as fast as the could

When they got there they were greeted by a rather interesting sight. Their four Genins were all in the living room along Tazuna, Kaiza and Tsunami. Mito was alone in a corner, looking at the ground with a defeated expression, which sometimes changed to a longing look directed at Naruto. Menma on the other hand was looking at Naruto with barely controlled rage, while Sasuki was looking at her friend with nothing but worry on her eyes

Naruto on the other hand looked like someone had killed his puppy or something, although that look was combined with a thoughtful one. It was hard to tell though, considering that the blonde had a really good poker face

But the pain on his eyes was too obvious for both Kakashi and Anko

As soon as they got there a series of explanation started. Kakashi and Anko gave a simple excuse about exploring the general area of Nami in case there were enemies around. After that they asked the Genins about what happened, to which Sasuki explained her and Menma's fight against the **_Shoton (Crystal Release)_** user at the bridge, while Menma simply kept glaring at Naruto, who looked completely uncaring about the whole situation

Of course both Kakashi and Anko were surprised about that, and they felt really bad about leaving their Genins to face something like that alone. However questions about Narut'o and Mito's location during all this, after all they weren't there in the fight

Naruto, not wanting to have to explain the details about his meeting with Zabuza or Haku, simply lied, telling everyone that he was just having his morning walk and that, for some reason, Mito had followed him

Mito didn't know why her Nii-san had lied, but she just went along with it, fearing that if she didn't she would get her Nii-san in more trouble, or worse, make him hate her even more

Just the thought of that almost made Mito burst into tears once again, which didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi, Anko or Menma, who chose that moment to start yelling at Naruto, apparently blaming him about his sister current distress

Naruto had just given Menma a flat look before standing up and moving to leave. Menma was apparently about to stand up too, probably to stop Naruto from leaving just to yell at him some more, but a hand on his shoulder from Mito stopped him

Sasuki did stand up though, and she was more than ready to follow her friend to interrogate him, but a cold look from Naruto followed by him saying that he wanted to be alone stopped her on her tracks. She could just nod with a frown on her face, not used to Naruto acting like that towards her

She didn't like it one bit

The week that followed went rather uneventful. The team was now tenser than ever and it was quite easy to tell. Kakashi and Anko had decided to stay for the rest of the week just to make sure nothing happened

During said week something became almost permanent. Menma glaring at Naruto, Sasuki trying to make Mito explain why Naruto was acting like that, Mito being either really sad or giving longing looks to Naruto, Sasuki practicing her new Sharingan and Naruto acting like the world around him didn't matter at all

For his part Naruto spent the whole week doing one simple thing: Thinking. Now that he didn't have a homicidal swordsman trying to kill him Naruto managed to analyze his fight against Zabuza

And the more he thought about it the less he liked it

For starters there was the fact that Zabuza had come to attack _him_, and no Tazuna or his family as he originally thought. He wasn't a fool. Knowing that Haku was with Zabuza he could only think that her meeting him was also planned. For what reason, he didn't know, but for him that was the true

Now Naruto's thoughts might be a little on the paranoid side, after all why would a missing Nin like Zabuza hunt someone like Naruto? And how would Zabuza or Haku for that matter, even know that Naruto was in Nami in the first place? The answer came to Naruto like tons of bricks and it made him feel even more betrayed than ever

Zeref had sent him

At first he didn't want to believe it at first, but the evidence was there. He had told his sensei that he was coming to Nami, so Zeref knew where he was, and then there was the estrange ability that Zabuza's blade had. The fact that it could absorb magic made his suspicious a reality in his opinion

After all there was no way that ability was something natural, after all magic was _not_ from this world, and if you add the fact that Naruto believed that Zeref and him were the only ones that could use magic, then it was easy to deduce stuff like that

It was all of those events that brought Team 7 to their current situation. They were now just at the entrance of Konoha, barely walking through the rather big door. Their good-bye from Nami had been quite simple, with some good wishes from Tazuna's family and a little joke here and there.

The walk to Konoha went a lot faster since they were able to move faster since they weren't forced to move at civilian speed, but the tense atmosphere didn't lessen in the sightless

"Well then, Menma-kun, Sasuki-san please go with me and Anko to report our mission, after all you two had a rather fierce encounter" said Kakashi, getting a nod from both Sasuki and Menma, so with a goodbye from Sasuki and a last glare directed at Naruto from Menma they were gone, leaving both Naruto and Mito alone at the gates

The young red-head tried to say something to her Nii-san, but she was simply ignored by Naruto, who left rather abruptly with a **_Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)_**, leaving a sad Mito, who could do nothing but to release a sigh and try to blink away the tears that were at the corner of her eyes.

With nothing else to do the young Jinchuriki decided to just go home and rest. She had wanted to talk to her Nii-san, to say that she was sorry, or to at least explain why she did what she did, even though she felt ashamed of herself for listening to the Kyubi of all beings

She couldn't change the past though, so the only thing she could do now was try to do her best and fix her relationship with her Nii-san

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Naruto_

The young blonde was now walking through the hall that reached the training room in which he knew his sensei was, his face showing no emotions and hiding perfectly how he truly felt

Just like he expected his sensei was just sitting at the middle of the room, his eyes close and his pose making obvious the fact that he was meditating. That would not stop Naruto though.

He wanted answers and he wanted them now

Naruto reached his sensei and looked down to him, the man acting if no one was in front of him, and the young blonde took some deep breaths before starting his questioning

"Why did you send Zabuza and Haku against me?!" Naruto tried his best to keep his feelings out of his voice, but he was more than sure that a bit of angriness had been in his tone

For Zeref's part, the black mage opened his eyes almost in a lazy way, making Naruto remember Shikamaru a little bit. Ever so slowly Zeref stood up, and then started dusting some none existent dirtiness from his robes before looking directly at Naruto in the eyes

"Welcome back Naruto-kun, did your enjoy your stay in **_Nami no Kuni (Wave Country)_**?" asked Zeref like he was talking about the weather, making Naruto blink once, then twice before he gritted his teeth in frustration

"What? Don't try to change the subject, sensei! Answer me!" said Naruto with a glare directed at his sensei, although Zeref acted like nothing was going on

"You seem tense, Naruto-kun. Did something happen in Nami?" asked Zeref with a raised eyebrow, completely ignoring Naruto's questions. For his part Naruto had to stop himself from spluttering in confusion at his sensei's behavior. What the hell was he doing? Was his sensei just messing with him?

Since when did he get a sense of humor anyway?!

Naruto was about to actually yell in frustration. Everything that had happened in Nami and his sensei behavior was not helping the young blonde's self-control, but a sudden thought stopped him on his track. His sensei was always preaching about self-control of one's actions and emotions. Was this another test then?

Naruto clearly remember how his sensei liked to turn everything in a test. His confrontation with his family ended up actually being another test of control for Naruto, which was the reason for Zeref not telling him about what was going on while he was unconscious

Or at least that's what his sensei told him

Knowing that just yelling would bring nothing Naruto took a few calming breaths, his hand clenching and unclenching. Then the young blonde directed a cold look at his sensei, which had yet to do anything or to be affected by Naruto's behavior

"Why? Why did you send someone to kill me in Nami?" Naruto's voice was calm and collected, making Zeref actually nod to his apprentice, just before he started pacing around the place like if it was the first time he had seen it

"That's a rather serious accusation, isn't? Where's your proof, Naruto-kun? Or is this just your rage at the world talking?" asked Zeref in his normal calm voice, making Naruto cross his arms over his chest

"Believe me, sensei. I wouldn't be saying this if I didn't have proof" started Naruto, looking intently at the black-haired mage "For starters you knew I was going Nami, I told you after all. Then when I fought against Zabuza he looked perfectly calm when I showed him what I could do, which means he probably _knew_ about my magic. And then there's the fact that his sword absorbed magic, which is something only someone who knew about magic might be able to put on that sword, and I know it wasn't me" Naruto stopped from a moment, apparently not liking the next few words that he would say "And Haku's words... They were too alike to what you have taught me"

After that both teacher and apprentice just stood there, their gaze firmly focused on the other and their expression revealing nothing. It was like for a few moments before Zeref finally decided to speak

"And how long did it take you to reach that conclusion, Naruto-kun?"

"A few days. I didn't want to believe it at first but... everything points to you, sensei" answered Naruto honestly, getting a nod of acceptance from Zeref

"Congratulations Naruto-kun, you have passed the test once again" congratulated Zeref to his apprentice, making said apprentice to release a sigh. It looked like he was right after all

It did not mean he liked it though

"So you really did send Zabuza to kill me as part of a test?! And what about Haku?! What the hell were you thinking, sensei?!" Naruto's compose faltered when Zeref admitted that it was a test so easily

"Please Naruto-kun, if I wanted you dead I would have sent someone else, or even done so myself. No, I sent Zabuza to give you a challenge, Naruto-kun" This got an incredulous expression from Naruto, which did not stop Zeref from talking "You're a Dragon Slayer, Naruto-kun, and just like dragons it's in fights that your true potential is showed. I wanted to make you fight properly against a good opponent, since showing magic to anyone here might be problematic, and fighting against me only gets you beaten up every time"

When it looked like Naruto was about to retort Zeref just raised his hand to stop him before continuing himself

"Besides, your fight against Zabuza wasn't the real test anyway, Naruto-kun. It was just something you needed. Dragons and Dragon Slayers are warriors by default after all. No, the real test was for you to figure it out it was me who send Zabuza and Haku. Not that hard when you think about it but it was a necessity"

"What? You wanted me to play detective or something? Why?" Naruto's annoyance had mostly turned to confusion by this point. He knew his sensei did weird and overly complicated stuff but this? What game was his sensei playing with him?

"Why? Simple. I wanted to make sure that your loyalty to me hadn't blind you, Naruto-kun" replied Zeref, and when he noticed Naruto's lost expression he decided that an explanation was necessary

"I have been training you for six years already, Naruto-kun. I know you, and I also know where your real loyalty lies" At hearing this Naruto's face turned serious "Loyalty is good, Naruto-kun, but following someone blindly isn't. I wanted to make sure I was training an apprentice, someone who in the future would be able to surpass everyone else, including me" This got a surprised look from Naruto, who had never heard anything like that from Zeref "Not a little puppet or a weapon that would follow my every command or whim. I'm glad to see that your loyalty to me has not blinded you, Naruto-kun. If it did you wouldn't have even thought of me capable to do anything you considered 'wrong', or worst, you would have just accepted it without even asking me"

Zeref's words put Naruto deep in thought. He guessed that, in an objective point of view, what his sensei had done actually made sense. He still had doubt about the fact that he had sent someone like Zabuza against him

He didn't like it. But he understood it somehow. After all during that fight, in which he truly believed his life was on the line, he actually felt _alive_. It was hard for Naruto to be thrilled by anything, but fighting with his life on the line exited him more than scaring him

He didn't know if that was good or bad. He just knew he couldn't change it, after all for good or bad he was a Dragon Slayer know, and that apparently did not come with only good things

He just hoped he didn't turn into battle obsessed maniac. That could not be pretty

Meanwhile in another place a certain blonde God Slayer just sneezed

"Now why don't we change the subject a little bit?" said Zeref, his gaze becoming even more penetrating than before, which almost made Naruto to give a step back "Why were you so affected by the fact Haku was with Zabuza? No, in fact, why did you trust her so easily?"

Zeref's question definitely caught Naruto off guard. Why had he trusted Haku? What kind of question is that? Sure she ended up being with the enemy, although if Zabuza was with his sensei then maybe enemy wasn't the correct term, but he didn't know that when he met her

"What do you mean why? I trusted her becau-"

"Because of what? You met the girl for only one week Naruto. And you did it in a place you didn't know, in a bodyguard mission. Tell me exactly why did you trust someone like her so easily? You shouldn't have, in fact you should have been wary of her since the beginning. And don't go and tell it was because you didn't feel anything 'bad' coming from her. That ability you have is not perfect, and you should know that" said Zeref, making Naruto frown at his words while looking at the floor

Zeref was not done though. Naruto needed to hear this. He might not like it but he couldn't avoid the problem

"I'll tell you why" said Zeref getting Naruto's attention once again "It's because, to put it simple, you're emotionally broken"

"What?" Naruto was definitely taken back by Zeref's words. What was that supposed to mean?

"You heard me, Naruto-kun. It doesn't matter if you want to accept it or not, the fact is that your childhood, especially the treatment of your family, had let scars in you" Now this definitely shocked Naruto. His sensei had never touched the subject of his family, or his childhood for that matter

"You know I'm saying the true, Naruto-kun. Our past always affect us, that is a fact. It because of your past that you accepted my training so fast. You were tired of being alone. You wanted to be someone. You wanted someone to care for you. Is for that reason that you accepted the first hand that came to your aid, Naruto-kun. And I'm sure that if someone else had proposed you the same, you would have accepted"

"Even though it's been years since we started training I can still easily see the result of your neglect. You still crave for companionship, for friendship, for people that you can trust and that will always care about you"

"That needs to change, Naruto-kun. Maybe in a perfect world, trusting anyone and everyone wouldn't be so bad, but this world is far from that. This is a world were ninjas exist, Naruto-kun. You never know when a friend might be an enemy, or when someone that seems innocent enough is actually a killer. If you want to trust someone then that's fine, I'm not telling you not to, but _don't_ trust carelessly, Naruto-kun. That will only end in an early dead"

By the end of his speech Zeref was still looking directly at the now speechless Naruto. Zeref knew that what he had just said was quite a negative way of seeing the world, but it didn't mean it wasn't true. He had seen it after all. This world was not estrange to betrayal. Of course Zeref knew that Naruto would need allies for the future, but putting one trust in the wrong basket could easily come back to bite you in the ass

For his part Naruto was deep in thought. Was his sensei right? Did he really have so many issues? Naruto didn't like to admit it, but he knew that his family had left a void on his heart. One that Zeref, and later Sasuki, had been able to fill little by little.

He might not like it, but he understood that his sensei was probably right. Maybe he was still craving for people's acceptance. On his mind he cursed his family once again. Naruto viewed this like a weakness, and if there was something he didn't like it was to feel week.

His relationship with Sasuki crossed his mind at that moment. Could he really trust her? What if she betrayed him? Naruto quickly shook his head. He _knew_ that Sasuki was trustable. She was his first real friend, for Kami's sake. If he couldn't trust her then there was no one he could trust

Naruto vowed to talk and apologize to Sasuki soon. He knew that he had acted rather rude to her because of the internal turmoil he had, but for him that was no excuse

He still had some doubts though, and now that things were being said Naruto quickly took advantage of the opportunity

"You never told me you had allies outside the village" said Naruto, trying and failing to mask his question. Zeref for his part just raised an eyebrow at this before answering

"Everyone has secrets, Naruto-kun. I have my own, just like you have yours. There're just some things that are better kept in private" answered Zeref, making Naruto nod in understanding. It was hard for him to be mad at his sensei for keeping secrets, considering that he had secrets of his own

Until this day Naruto had told no one, not even his sensei, about the different... mistreatments that some people in the village had done to him. For Naruto those were his weakest moments, and he wanted to buried them in a deep part of his memory

It was just like his sensei had just said. Everyone had secrets

"Just so you know" started Zeref, stopping Naruto from spacing out even more "Haku truly feels bad about what she did. She only did it because I told her to do it. You weren't the only one who opened his heart for that week, although you already know what I think about that" said Zeref, making Naruto's eyes to go wide. He had already started to believe that Haku had just considered him a mission and that everything she had said and felt was nothing but an act

He was apparently wrong though, at least if what his sensei just said was true. Naruto could only nod at those words. His feelings for Haku were now mixed. For one part she was someone that Naruto truly thought he could have trusted, but he now felt apprehensive at best.

He would have to sort that first, so that if he ever met her again he could do it with a clear head

'Quite ironic' thought Naruto. His sense had told him that to be truly strong you needed people to care about, and that in those bonds real power was hidden, but now he had just told him not to trust carelessly and basically to be on his guard at all time

Quite the sensei he had, didn't he?

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, in the Uzumaki-Namikaze residence_

Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze was a worried mother. Never mind the fact that her relationship with one of her sons, Naruto, made her cry to sleep almost every night, or that the regret and shame she felt for her actions towards her elder son made her hate herself

No, right now Kushina's worry was because of her eldest daughter, Mito. The young red-head had arrived early from her first C-rank mission, and Kushina couldn't be happier for her daughter. When she asked when her two brothers were she had just mumbled about reporting their mission before making a bee-line towards her room

Mito's depressed act was not the only thing that had worried Kushina. The eldest red-head could easily tell that her daughter had been crying. For what reason she didn't know, but she was intended to find out

And probably hurt whoever made her baby girl cry.

It was her worries that brought her in front of her eldest daughter's room. Her youngest child, Natsumi, was out playing with some friends, and her husband was still in his office, probably with Menma. She had wondered where Naruto was, and not having any clue of what he did most of the time just made her feel even worse

If such a thing was possible of course.

"Mito-chan, are you ok? Can I come in? Asked Kushina while knocking at the door. Of course the eldest red-head was expecting her daughter to say something, or to answer the door at her call, but when after a few moments she heard nothing from the room, she started to worry even more

"Mito-chan, I'm going in" announced Kushina out of politeness before poking her head in the room, and what she saw made her eyes wide before she rushed to her daughter's side

Mito was right now sobbing madly in a pillow while lying on her bed, her normal beautiful hair just like Kushina's had become a mess, and her eyes where releasing tears like no tomorrow

Now of course this worried Kushina. She of course had seen her daughter sad and even cry sometimes, but never like this. Whatever had happened in her mission had really affected her

Kushina just hoped it wasn't anything serious, or else Kakashi would become a dead man walking for not looking out for her baby girl

"Mito-chan, honey, what happened?" asked Kushina in a soothing voice while sitting alongside her daughter. As soon as Mito felt the presence of her mother she lunged and hugged her mother in a vice-grip, almost like if she was a life-line, and kept crying madly on her shoulder

"He hates me! He hates me, Kaa-san!" Kushina was surprised by her daughter's actions and words for just a moment before she hugged her daughter back and started whispering soothing things, doing her best to calm her sobbing child

It was after almost ten minutes that Mito finally calmed down. Kushina broke the hug, but still kept one of her hand on her daughter's shoulder while Kushina used her other hand to clean the remaining tears with her thumb

"Mito-chan please tell me what's wrong. What happened?" asked Kushina in a calm voice with sadness in her eyes. She really hated to see one of her children like this. In response Mito sniffed a couple of times before looking at her mother with such a sad face that almost made Kushina hugged her again just there

"H-he hates me, Kaa-san. Naruto-nii-san hates me! And it's my entire fault!" cried Mito, looking more than ready to burst into tears once again. Kushina's eyes widened at this, her son hating her sister? That couldn't be possible! She knew that Naruto's relationship with her and Minato was bad, but she thought that Mito and he weren't that bad

Maybe she was overreacting?

"Mito-chan, I'm sure it's a misunderstanding. Your brother doesn't hate you" comforted Kushina, making her daughter to shake his head negative

"Yes he does! And it's my entire fault!" said Mito while hugging herself, shocking Kushina even more. She had never seen her daughter in such a pitiful state. It was quite clear that whatever had happened had really affected her

"Why do you say it's your fault, Mito-chan? I'm sure that whatever problem you and Naruto-kun have right now can be easily fixed" asked Kushina while moving and putting an arm around her daughter in a half hug, her voice calm and soothing. Mito for her part just trembled a little more. Her question had made Mito remember the day she had decided to ignore her brother thinking that he was protecting him

Now she thought that was the worst decision she had ever made in her life

She felt nothing but shame for actually following the Kyubi so many years ago. She should have ignored him. She should have loved her brother and helped him to become strong. She should have protected him by being by his side, not by pushing him away!

These different thoughts led Mito to another one, and as soon as she did her sadness started to turn into rage. Rage at her for being such a fool. Rage at the Kyubi for tricking him. Rage at Menma for being so mean to her Nii-san and at Natsumi for following him. Rage at her parents for pushing her dear Nii-san away in the first place

Yes. Her mother was right with that one. It wasn't _only_ her fault

"No it can't! Nii-san hates me! I love him but he hates me completely!" started Mito, who then looked at her mother with a glare that completely surprised Kushina, after all Mito had never looked at her like that "And it's our fault! It's your and Tou-san's fault too! Why?! Why couldn't you just love him like any normal parent would do?! Why did you have to push him away?!"

A gasp and a hand on her mouth was the only thing Kushina could do now. Normally she wouldn't let one of her children to speak to her like this, but Mito's words hit a nerve in the normally happy Red-head. She couldn't do anything but to lower her head in shame, knowing that the current relationship between Naruto and her family was mostly her and her husband's fault

She couldn't felt any lower at this point

"I'm sorry..." Kushina tried to apologize but Mito was not hearing anything at this point. Her sadness had turned into angriness and Kushina was the only one here to who she could vent

"It's not to me to who you should be apologizing too!" Mito released a sigh, and looked away, not wanting to directly at her mother's dejected expression "Just... just leave. I want to be alone" and with that the young red-head used the covers of her bed to hide her form, and it was an even worse Kushina the one that left that room, knowing that her daughter could be as stubborn as her, and that right now she could do nothing but to give her some space

She would have to talk to her husband as soon as he got home. Their mistake was destroying their family, and they had to fix it.

No matter what

Mito for her part was thinking the same, only that she wasn't thinking on how to fix Naruto's situation with her family, but rather his relationship with her. If her family wanted to fix their relationship then it was up to them, not her. She already had a lot on her plate

It didn't matter though. She wouldn't give up. She loved her Nii-san too much for that one. She was an Uzumaki after all, and Uzumaki never gave up. Even if her Nii-san cursed her name she would still be by his side no matter what

Even if he didn't see her as family anymore it wouldn't matter, as long as she could be by his side helping him then it didn't matter what kind of relationship they had

Mito vowed to never hurt her Nii-san again. Even if it meant her death she would never do it

She would die before betraying him again

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Some days later_

"You better drop him before you get hurt" coldly said Naruto, his hand grabbing the wrist of the funny looking guy that had just grabbed Konohamaru by his shirt

"Why don't you and deal with your own business? Besides kids these days need to learn to respect their elders!" was the guys replied, his painted face set in a glare directed at Naruto

"If you mess with the grandchild of the Sandaime in front of any Konoha nin, it become's their business" said Naruto, making the guy's eyes to go wide since he didn't know who the kid was "Not only that, but you do it in front of the Yondaime's daughter" at this Naruto pointed at the awe looking Mito that was behind him "Do you Suna nin had some sort of death wish? Or do you just want to start a war?" Naruto pressed the guy's wrist even more, forcing the guy to release Konohamaru who scrambled back to where his friends was, looking at Naruto with no little amount of awe

Naruto hadn't meant to get into a situation like this one. It was only a mere coincidence and his need to stop a conflict before is started that brought him to this situation

Already finished with his training with his sensei, Zeref, for the day, and not having any kind of duty with his team, mostly because of the announced Chunin exam, which Kakashi and Anko had informed him and the rest of the team a few days ago, Naruto simply went for a walk around the village

It wasn't something he did normally, but he started noticing teams from other villages coming to Konoha for the exams, so in curiosity Naruto simply decided to have a walk around the village, mostly to see if he found anyone interesting from other village

It was in his walk that he ended up hearing some yelling and curses. In curiosity Naruto had taken cover in a tree branch and there he was able to start of what could easily be a bad conflict.

On one side there were two kids he didn't know, alongside none other than Natsumi and his former classmates Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka

On the other side there were tree person that were definitely from another village, with one of them holding another boy by his shirt, and based on their attire they were probably ninjas coming for the Chunin exams

The group, who according to their forehead protector were from Suna, was formed by one girl and two boys. The girl had teal eyes and blonde hair, which was gathered into four ponytails. Her attire consisted of a short-sleeved, black kimono that reached down to her legs, with slits along the side and a more revealing neckline and a red sash tied around her waist. She was also sporting fingerless black gloves and her forehead protector was on her forehead

One of the males was simply wearing a black outfit consisting of a long top and trousers with a red sash around his waist. His forehead protector was in the forehead part of the hoodie of his outfit. He also had some weird paint in his face and some kind of package on his back.

The last male was the one that really caught Naruto's attention. Not as much for his appearance, but mostly because of his presence. It seemed off for some reason that Naruto couldn't understand. This boy was definitely younger than the other two, noted Naruto. He had fair skin and short, spiky, auburn hair and pale blue-green eyes. He also had tanuki-like black eye rings and the kanji for 'love' carved on the left side of his forehead. His attire consisted of full-length dark trousers, with a pair of laces on each leg, respectively a few inches below the waist and the knees, a long-sleeved crimson coat with flaring hemlines and slits down on the lower half of the front and the back, a grey holster vest held in place by a single strap over his left shoulder and by two buckled belts which he was using to carry the gourd he had on his back

The problem was that the guy with paint on his face had grabbed one of the kids, Konohamaru if he remembered right, by his shirt and he was apparently a few moments of strike the kid. Not wanting for this to turn into a problem that could 'cause unnecessary conflict Naruto had appeared in a sunshin and had grabbed the boy's wrist rather roughly

And that came to the current situation, with was Naruto looking at the trio of Suna nins with a cold and calculative look, which was returned by a glare from the paint guy, a rather weird look form the girl that made him feel like a piece of meat and an emotionless look from the other boy

Behind him all the young kids, including Natsumi, were looking at Naruto with no little amount of awe, in fact Natsumi was just thinking of how cool her brother was, while both Sakura and Ino released a relieved sigh at seeing someone they knew here

"You little!" said the paint guy rather angrily, touching the object on his back with his hand. This sprung the blonde's hair attention, who tried to stop the guy from using whatever that thing was

"Kankuro, don't do anything stupid! Do you want to 'cause us unnecessary trouble?!" said the girl to the one named Kankuro, getting a smirk from the guy

"Don't worry, sis. This won't take even a minute" said Kankuro while grabbing the thing on his back, making Naruto rather tense. Behind him both Sakura and Ino shared worried looks again at seeing the current situation.

However Kankuro's action were stopped by an emotionless voice that for a moment made Naruto think that his sensei was here

"Kankuro, stop. You're bringing shame to our village by our actions" said the youngest guy, getting some weird scared looks from both Temari and Kankuro.

"B-but Gaara, they..." started Kankuro to the now named Gaara, but he was stopped by Gaara's response

"Kankuro, shut up or I'll kill you" said Gaara, surprising everyone from Konoha and making Kankuro and the girl have worried expression on their faces. Kankuro stopped his actions and gave a step back, making Naruto's focus to go to the auburn haired guy

"What is your name?" asked Gaara to Naruto, making the blonde to raise an eyebrow at the younger guy

"Isn't it common courtesy to give your name first? But if your must now, it's Naruto" answered Naruto coldly, his body still tense in case this guy, on his friends, tried anything

"I see. My name is Sabaku no Gaara. You blood shall feed mother properly once the times comes" said Gaara to Naruto, confusing the blonde, although his external expression didn't show it

"Temari, Kankuro, we're leaving" Gaara continued, this time apparently ordering his friends, if they were even that, around. The tree Suna Nin turned around and started walking, Kankuro throwing Naruto one final glare, while the girl left some partying words

"The name's Temari, handsome. You better not forget it" the girl, whose name was Temari, said with a wink before following the other two guys around. As soon as they left Naruto released a sigh before turning around and walking to where the group of kids, and Sakura and Ino, where

As soon as they got there he was received by shouts of how 'cool' he was by the youngster, who then turned to look at awe at Natsumi when she said he was her "awesome Onii-chan!" Naruto for his part just ignored the kids, and didn't even bother to say anything to Natsumi, knowing it was pretty much worthless at this point

Instead his attention went to his two former classmates, who game him both grateful smiles

"Thank you, Naruto-kun, if you hadn't appear, who knows what might had happened!" said a smiling Ino, getting just shrug from Naruto. He really hadn't meant to help that much. He just thought it was better to stop a conflict like that before it even started

"But why where Suna Nin here?" wondered Sakura out-loud, making Ino nod and Naruto to blink twice. Didn't these girls know about the Chunin exams? The thing was starting a just a week and either they didn't know, they sensei hadn't told them, or they had just forgotten

"Probably for the Chunin exams. There are more than one team from another village already in the village, and considering that it will start in a week other teams like that one will probably get here sooner or later" replied Naruto in a calm voice, making both Ino and Sakura to scratch they head sheepishly at having forgotten about the exams. Those looks then turned to nervous ones, after all now they had seen a good look at the 'enemy', and they could easily say this Chunin exams thing was not going to be easy

"Is your team entering the exams, Naruto-kun?" asked Ino, and it was just now that Naruto noticed the suffix she had added to his name, but decided that it was better not to comment on it

"Yes we are. Can I guess that your team is doing the same?" asked Naruto, getting two nods from both girls

Naruto's eyes then snapped to his side. More specifically to the tree in which he was a few moments ago. He could have swore that there was someone there just a minute ago, but now he could feel nothing, which made the blonde frown a little bit in confusion

"Is something wrong, Naruto-san?" asked a curious Sakura, who had apparently noticed Naruto's abrupt change of attention. The young blonde's gaze went to the pink-haired girl once again, before simply saying

"Nothing... just a feeling"

A bad one

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, in Training Ground 7_

In a training ground another young blonde was now finishing his training. This young blonde was none other than Menma Uzumaki-Namikaze, who looked quite worse to wear

The young Jinchuriki had been training none stop every since he had been told about the Chunin Exams. For him he saw it as an opportunity to prove everyone that he was truly strong. To prove to everyone, specially his parents, that he would become strong enough to become Hokage one day

It was also an opportunity to face strong people. Like his sister, Mito. That annoying girl that was his teammate, Sasuki. Every Nin that would come from other village, and his _brother_.

Oh yes. Menma wouldn't miss the chance to beat the crap out of his brother in this exam. Not only for his personal feelings against him, but also because Menma _knew_ that it was Naruto's fault that both his parents, and now Mito too, started acting weird and sad.

He knew it was his fault, and if there was something that Menma would never forgive was anyone messing with his family. He easily ignored the fact that Naruto was family too, after all he hadn't thought of him like that since years ago

Every since _him_ opened his eyes

Yes. This Chunin exam would be the first step Menma had to take in order to become Hokage, and he wouldn't let anyone get on his way

Especially not Naruto

He would kill him if he did

"Hello there, Menma-kun" spoke a rather smooth voice from Menma's back. One that he recognized rather well, after all he had talked with this man for years already, so when Menma turned around he wasn't surprised to see the white haired man that had opened his eyes years ago, and that had showed him how things could end

He would never let things end like that. No, he would die trying to stop the future that this man showed

And if he had to kill Naruto to stop that, then so be it

"Alcor-san..."

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Well isn't this a fast update for my standards? Well you guys better not get use to it. Don't know what possessed me to finish this chapter so fast**

**Not much going around in this chapter, just some stuff that I wanted to show now better than ever**

**Some news here though! I'm looking for a beta reader for this fic of mine. My English is not the best (specially the grammar part of it), so someone to beta read the chapter would definitely be a good help (And if that persons also has some suggestion for it, then I'm all ears). If someone is interested then please PM.**

**I had a beta that worked on the prologue but hadn't heard from him in a while so... need a new one!**

**Of course once again thanks to everyone that keeps reading this fic and that followed, reviewed and favorite. Also thanks to those that gave me some pretty good suggestions on their review/PM and thanks to those that got this fic on their C2 (19 of those already, yaii!).**

**Oh! And also thanks to those that leave nothing but flames! Not only do those flames increase my review account, but they also gave me a good laugh!**

**For those that like long fics, don't worry, this one is just starting and I don't plan to abandon it.**

**Next Chapter: The Chunin exam begins!**


	12. The Chunin Exams Are Here

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama'**Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

**_"Rasengan"_** Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This chapter hasn't been betaed yet**

**Chapter 10**

**The Chunin Exams Are Here**

The Genins of Team 7 were now walking through the halls of the building that, according to their sensei, will held the first part of the Chunin Exams

Of course all four of the Genins had accepted entering the Chunin Exams without a doubt. This was their chance to not only prove themselves, but it was also the opportunity to face people from other village

And even though Naruto looked quite disinterested about the whole issue, unlike Menma and Sasuki whose excitement was obvious to everyone, the blonde was quite thrilled on the inside. It was after all an opportunity to not only test himself, but to also prove to everyone that he stopped being the hopeless boy he was before

After walking for a few moments the Genins of Team 7 reached an interesting sight. A rather big group of other Genins trying to enter a door that was guarded by two other guys.

The situation became even more hectic when one guy, who was wearing an impressive amount of green, was hit by one of the guys. As soon as the boy touched the floor, a girl, which Naruto guessed was part of his team, kneeled beside's him in order to help

The reason for the situation became obvious when Naruto saw the number over the door the two guys. According to that number this was the door 301. According to what Naruto knew the room in which the first part of this exam was going to be held was the door 301, but this was _not_ the third floor, and all the other rooms in this floor had a number with 200 on it

'Genjutsu' thought Naruto, while looking at the scene in front of him with suspicion. This would be a good way to filter those that could become Chunin from those that couldn't even see through such a simple trick

Naruto was not the only one that saw it from his team though, and it became apparent to him one both Menma and Sasuki gave a step forward. Already guessing what they were about to do Naruto reached and put a hand on Sasuki's shoulder, stopping her on her tracks. When she looked back at her blonde friend Naruto just shook his head, making her frown but nod in acceptance

Mito was not so subtle though

"Ouch! What the hell?!" complained Menma to Mito, who had just stomped over his feet and hit him in his ribs with her elbow

Definitely not something that felt good

"Menma, use your brain for once. I'm sure you were just about to do something stupid just to show off" Said Naruto in a whisper, getting a glare from the other blonde "If you had done that then everyone would have known this was a trick, which means more people for us to face in this exam. I don't need your big mouth making this thing harder than it will be already"

At hearing his words Mito couldn't help but to nod, while Sasuki's eyes widened before she looked at the ground while scratching her head, feeling embarrassed since she was about to do something similar.

Meanwhile Menma was busy glaring at Naruto with so much heat that Naruto actually raised an eyebrow at this. While he was used to being glare at by Menma, it was never with this amount of hate.

Mito was now nervous. The last thing she wanted was her two brothers fighting right now. She was about to say something but before she got the chance Menma just looked at the other side before just going to the stairs that were nearby and going up to the next floor.

With a sigh Mito follower her now angry brother, with Naruto and Sasuki just behind her. While their little conflict was missed by almost everyone there, since their attention was on how to get past the two guys that were guarding the door, more than one person actually noticed them.

Once they reached the next floor they got to one big room. There was nothing really interesting on this room, so the members of Team 7 simply kept walking towards the other side of the room, in which another hall was.

"WAIT!" However they were stopped by a rather loud voice coming from behind them, which of course made them turn around to find a group of people coming over to them, with the one who yelled at them actually running!

This person was the same green wearing guy from before, but now that he had stopped just in front of Menma, Naruto got a good look at him. This guy had very thick eyebrows and large, rounded black eyes with prominent lower eyelashes and his hair was cut and styled into a bowl-cut style, giving him one weird look. His attire consisted of a green jumpsuit, orange leg warmers, and his red forehead protector was being worn as a belt. He also had bandages around his hands and wrist, which Naruto noted were quite worned out

"You are Uzumaki-Namikaze Menma-kun, right?!" asked the green wearing guy with an exited voice, which got Menma to frown in confusion

"Yeah, that's me" answered Menma swiftly, a little bit put out by the guy's appearance. He was almost tempted to touch those eyebrows to confirm if they were real or just some drawings

Almost

"YOSH! I knew it was you, Menma-kun!" said the weird guy with an incredible amount of emotion, which made Naruto wonder if he was acting or anything. Then the guy's eyes actually _burned_ with fiery passion before he grabbed Menma's shoulders "Please, Menma-kun let us compare the power of our youth right now in a fight!"

This declaration got even more bewildered expressions from the members of Team 7, with the exception of Naruto who only raised an eyebrow before his attention went to the other three people that had come with the green guy. One girl, who had just released a sigh, a guy that looked quite frustrated and another one with a smile that was off for some reason

The girl had dark brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing her hair in Chinese-style buns on either side of her head with short fringe-bangs falling over her forehead protector which was of course in her forehead. She was sporting a long-sleeved white blouse with a high collar and red fastener and edges paired with similarly colored, puffy pants that look like a hakama, with the exposed parts of her legs near the waist covered in bandages. She also had brown fingerless gloves, black, open-toed sandals and a really big scroll on her back.

The guy that was annoyed, although he hid it quite well, had the same eyes as Hinata and that Hanabi girl, noted Naruto, which meant he was also part of the Hyuga clan. He had long black hair which reached the middle of his back and was tied back a few inches above the end in a loose ponytail. His hair also framed his face and his forehead protector. He was wearing a white shirt with loose sleeves, closed on the right shoulder, with a fastener running down the right part of the chest, matching pants, with a dark navy grey apron tied around his waist and black shinobi sandals

The last guy had short, black hair and black eyes which contrasted with his very pale skin. He was wearing a short black jacket with red straps, a high-collared midriff shirt, black pants, shinobi sandals and gloves with his index and thumb fingers exposed. He also had a backpack and a tantō on his back.

"What?" Naruto's attention went back to Menma, who had just said the only thing his mind managed to process when confronted with such a character like this green wearing guy. It was surprised Sasuki who approached Menma and whispered on his ear "I think he wants to fight you, Namikaze"

"Ho? Is that what you want then? A fight?" said Menma, a smirk rapidly forming into his face. His question got a big nod from the bowl-haired guy, which made Menma to crack his knuckles in excitement "You should have said so sooner! I'm not one to turn of a challenge!"

In fact Menma wanted to use this chance to blow some steam he had. He really had a lot of things in his head, but there was nothing a good fight couldn't fix.

"I knew you would understand, Menma-kun! The flames of youth burns brightly within you!" said the green haired guy; apparently able to become even more exited than before, if that was possible. Menma ignored that flame of youth comment and just nodded with a smirk, which made the bushy eye browed man to go to the other side of the place.

Sadly Naruto had enough of this show. He didn't really care who this guy was or if he fought Menma or not, but right now they had a date with a test and Naruto would be damned if they got there late just because Menma acted like a hot-blooded idiot

"Menma, we don't have the time for you to play around, remember?" said Naruto to Menma, which got a nod from Sasuki, who had her arms crossed over her chest, and Mito, who was looking at each of her brothers, fearing that another type of fight would start here

"I didn't ask for your opinion, now did I? If you want you can leave, since I'm not following orders from a loser like you!" snarled Menma with a glare directed at Naruto, who matched it with a cold look of his own. Beside's him Sasuki was also glaring at Menma, while Mito was looking disapprovingly at the youngest blonde

"What the hell is your problem, Namikaze?" hissed an angry Sasuki; not liking the tone in which Menma had just addressed her friend and teammate. For his part Menma just ignored her and sent his attention to the stretching bushy eye browed individual, whit the other three people, which Naruto guessed was his team, standing behind him

Sasuki did not like to be ignored like that, especially not by Namikaze of all people, so she was just about to demand even more answers from him, and probably hit him on the head a little bit, but hand on her shoulder, courtesy from Naruto, stopped her.

"This is a waste of time and he's too much of a thick-head to change his mind. Mito, you stay and make sure the idiot here doesn't get too hurt; we might need him for the test after all. Sasuki come with me, there's something I want to say to you" ordered Naruto, getting nods from both Mito and Sasuki, although Sasuki's expression showed her confusion, after all she didn't know what wanted Naruto to say to her

For her part Mito was slightly disappointed. She had already thought of talking to her brother before the beginning of the first task, and now that Menma was acting like an idiot she thought she would have her chance, but it went away as soon as her Nii-san told her to stay. She was also jealous about her Nii-san's close relationship with Sasuki, even though she did her best to hide it

Naruto and Sasuki left the place and kept going into the new hallway. Both kept walking until they reached the end of it, in which a big door with a number above it, which marked this room as 301.

Naruto turned around and faced Sasuki, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. She didn't know what he wanted to tell her, but she had a question of her own too.

"Naruto, shouldn't we have stayed? I mean, aren't you a little bit curious about who's going to win that fight?" asked Sasuki, to which Naruto just shrugged

"I already know how that fight is going to end. That guy is stronger than he looks, and he has probably been a Shinobi for more time than us. Menma may not be weak, but knowing him, he's probably going to underestimate his opponent a lot just because of his looks, which will end up in Menma's downfall" replied Naruto, getting a surprised and understanding expression from Sasuki, who in the bottom felt a little ashamed of herself, after all she too had thought that guy was weak just because of how he looked

But could you blame her? Just look at those eye-brows!

"Besides... There's something I wanted to tell you" continued Naruto, getting Sasuki's full attention once again. Naruto released a sigh before looking directly at Sasuki's eyes, and the young Uchiha saw something in those deep blue eyes that she have never seen in her friend's face

Shame

"I'm sorry" said Naruto, getting a confused expression from Sasuki. Why was he apologizing for? Sasuki was about to ask that, but Naruto stopped her with a shake of his head "Please let me finish... I'm sorry for how I treated you back in Nami and the past week. I had... a lot on my head, but I shouldn't have treated you that way, you're my friend after all Sasuki, I care about you and I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. I'm sorry" finished Naruto, his face showing nothing but his eyes told Sasuki everything she needed to know

For her part the young girl couldn't help but to look away after hearing that, with a small blush on her face. Of course she knew that Naruto did care about her, and she wasn't mad about him at all, but hearing him say those words like that really made a mess of her heart.

Sasuki stole a peek at Naruto's face and she saw him waiting for an answer, so the young girl just released a calming breath before looking at him "Is that what had gotten you worried? Please, if I got angry every time you act all secretive around me we would have never become friends in the first place" Sasuki tried to played it like it was nothing, but her attempt became futile since she was obviously still a little nervous and her blush had yet to go away

Then, a sudden idea entered the young girl's head, and before she could even think more about it she just blurted it out "But if you really feel bad about it I guess you can make it up to me after the exams" said Sasuki, her blush becoming a little bit stronger, and her question just got a raised eyebrow from the blonde

"What do you have in mind?" asked Naruto

"Well" Sasuki started to play with her hair nervously, trying to not put too much importance in what she was about to say "I guess I could make you pay for my meals for a whole week, or you could help me train, or you could just spend more time with me" said Sasuki, the last part being nothing but a whisper, but Naruto hear it quite easily.

Now Sasuki was really embarrassed. She didn't know why she had say those things, and now she was afraid of what Naruto was going to answer. She was of course overreacting, but while Sasuki was confident in her skills as a Kunoichi, it was at this sort of stuff that her confidence wavered every time

Naruto's next words definitely didn't help at all

"If you wanted to spend time with me, you should have just said it before. You should know I always have time for you, Sasuki" said Naruto with his head tilted a little bit, not knowing how his words were affecting Sasuki, who thought He hadn't hear her last words

Now Sasuki's face had become as red as a ripped tomato. Naruto's words really hit home with her there and with her embarrassment came her change of attitude that had become something to expect for Naruto

"D-don't say s-such embarrassing things, you baka! Y-you should feel just glad that you get to spend time with someone like m-me!" yelled Sasuki, still with a red face, which just made Naruto blink twice before nodding, already knowing that trying to understand Sasuki's behavior was impossible to him.

After that Sasuki just huffed and looked the other way, her blush becoming less obvious but it was still there. After that both Naruto and Sasuki just stayed in comfortable silence, Naruto not having anything else to say and Sasuki still feeling to embarrassed to say anything, although she stole some glances at Naruto once in a while

It was after some minutes that another couple appeared in the hallway. This couple were none other that the two other Genins of the team, Menma and Mito.

Naruto could easily see that Menma had received some damage from his fight, but it wasn't that what got both Naruto's and Sasuki's attention. No, it was the horror stricken expression that both Uzumaki-Namikaze's had.

Like if they had seen some sort of terror that no one in this world should have seen

Once they got close Naruto could hear them mumbling under their breath. Something about clones, youth and sunsets. Of course Naruto had no idea what they were talking about, and he really cared to little about it to ask

Sasuki was more curious though

"What happened to the two of you? You look like you have seen a ghost or something" asked Sasuki, making both Menma and Mito to shake their head quickly; trying to forget the horror they had just watched

"Nothing! Just... nothing, let just get this thing over already!" grumbled Menma, doing his best to change the subject. It was bad already that he had almost lost against that Rock Lee guy, and the fact that one of his sensei was just as weird as he was didn't help at all! So he just wanted to let that experience behind him at all cost

"You finally say something smart today" said Naruto, getting a glare from Menma that just got a raised eyebrow from Naruto. Menma just huffed before going over the door, but just as he was about to open it a voice from behind the team once again stopped them

"Yo!" said someone that all the members of Team 7 recognized as soon as they turned around.

Their sensei, Kakashi Hatake, appeared out of nowhere, his famous, or infamous if you asked many woman, book in his hand as always and his patented eye-smile present on his face

"Sensei/Kakashi-nii/Kakashi!" said a surprised Mito, Menma and Sasuki, while Naruto just stood there in silence, already guessing why Kakashi was here

"What are you doing here, Kakashi-nii?" asked Menma

"Oh well, I was just passing by and decided to give my cute little Genins some last words before they went and make both Anko and me proud" answered Kakashi, getting some nods and a grin from Menma, although that also raised another question

"Where's Anko-sensei?" asked Mito while looking around, like expecting Anko to pop out of nowhere, which she might do

"Anko just had to do some stuff, don't worry I'm sure you'll see her soon" Kakashi's answer got Naruto's attention, but he decided to just save that tip of information for later. The silver-haired man then coughed a little bit, getting all of the Genins attentions once again

"Now, Anko and I wouldn't have given you the option to participate if we didn't felt that you guys were ready. I'm sure I'm speaking for both when I say that we know you guys are going to make us proud there. Never let your guard down and don't forget to trust your teammates!" stated Kakashi, getting nods from all the Genins.

Kakashi couldn't help but to look at them with nothing but pride, but when his gaze felt into Naruto a pang of remorse and shame once again made itself present on his heart. He had tried to make amends with his sensei's eldest son and connect to him like he did with Menma, but every time he tried Naruto just found a way to escape those moments

It didn't help that Naruto treated both him and Anko coldly. It wasn't that he was unrespectful or anything, but Kakashi could easily tell that Naruto wanted nothing to do with him more than it was necessary

That hurt, Kakashi though, but he knew it was also his fault. He would try once again after the second task. He had no doubt that they would get to the finals and when they did Kakashi would offer to train Naruto as much as he could.

"Don't worry, Kakashi-nii!" We're gonna ace this thing!" said Menma with a grin, which Kakashi returned with another eye-smile before going back to his book.

The members of team 7 just turned around once again, and with Menma on the lead they opened the door that was in front of them

It was now time for the Chunin Exams to start!

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Half an hour later_

Rows after rows of seats were filled by hopeful Genins, trying to do their best in order to past the first task of the Chunin Exams

Between these Genins there was our protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, who was right now looking at the filled paper he had in front of him with nothing but boredom

'Another half an hour for the last question... This would be a lot easier of this guy stopped looking at me like he was going to eat me or something' thought Naruto, stealing a glimpse at the man that was directing this task and like every since the task started he was met with a focused gaze from the pale Sannin known as Orochimaru

This task started half an hour ago, and its goal was simple: To get a good note on a written test. It was, in theory, simple enough, but there was more than one thing that made this task quite difficult

The first one being the multiple rules that could easily be used to screw you. Naruto stole a peak at the multiple Chunin that were looking over at all the Genins with rapt attention. If one of them even caught a glimpse of you cheating, they would take points out of your test

And of course, if you run out of points you and your team were out

Another thing was the questions themselves. They were way too hard for a normal Genin, and Naruto knew that there were very few people here that could actually answer them without cheating. He had easily noted that Shikamaru was probably one of these persons, but that he was so lazy that he would probably feel asleep before answering.

And Naruto himself was one of these individuals. Zeref had of course made sure that he was strong with both his mind and body. That combined with his liking for books made Naruto able to answer seven out of the nine questions that were in the test. It also helped that a couple of them were about strategies in the battlefield, something that Naruto felt comfortable enough

Looking at the remaining people in the room Naruto could easily see that at least a quarter of the Genins were already out. Those were the ones that were caught cheating, and of course their teammates. The true meaning of this test was not missed by Naruto, or to be precise the true meanings

First, this test was obviously created to force the Genins to cheat. These questions were just way too hard and the rules themselves were a way to ask you to cheat. Sadly Naruto didn't have any technique or spell that could help him with that, since most of his abilities were heavily intended for fighting, not information gathering

He vowed to himself to look for some techniques that would help him with that, after all one never knew when they would be useful

Like right now

The only idea Naruto had was to create some sort of mirror with his magic and use it to see other people test. Of course he could not do that with Orochimaru never taking his eyes away from him.

The other real test hidden was to see which Genins could keep themselves in control and cal minded in stressful situations, after all Chunin were normally team leaders, and if a leader crumbled just because thing became to hard in a mission then the whole team, and the mission itself, became in danger

Naruto eyes snapped back to his leg, in which a little snake was starting to coil around it. It was this factor of the test that made Naruto understands the whole keeping a calm mind idea.

Since the beginning of the test the one directing it, none other than Orochimaru the snake summoner himself, summoned at least a dozen of snakes. The little fellas would start to wander around the room and start to hiss or coil around the Genins.

They were harmless, unless of course you reacted to them. More than once Genin had jumped out or tried to hit the snakes, only for them to get bitten by them and then disqualified from the test, with their teammates of course.

This was a clever way to put even more stress in an already stressful situation, thought Naruto. Of course he didn't have any problem with the snakes themselves. No, it was their summoner the one that had Naruto more than a little nervous

Every since the test started this man, Orochimaru, had kept his attention fully in Naruto. Heck, he wasn't even trying to hide it. He just stared at Naruto directly for the last half an hour like if he held the meaning of the universe or something

To be honest it put Naruto more than a little on guard, after all he couldn't think of any reason for someone like Orochimaru to have such a strong interest in him. He had simply decided to ignore him; after all calling him out would just cause unnecessary trouble

The snake finally left Naruto's leg and started to crawl around the room once again. The young blonde then decided to check on his teammates once again; after all if one of them got themselves out then he too was out

Not a very good thought

Just like a few minutes before Sasuki was scrambling in the paper like a woman possessed. Naruto knew that his friend wasn't dumb, but things like this were definitely not her forte. 'Sharingan' guessed Naruto in his mind, thinking that Sasuki being her would use her clan Doujutsu as much as she could in this situation

Then he looked at his former sister, Mito, who was also writing on the sheet of paper, although in a very calmer speed. Naruto didn't know much about how she was answering them, but he just guessed that she had done just like him: answered with the knowledge she had. She was, after all, the Kunoichi of the Year, and he knew she had gotten that post because, unlike Sasuki, she had gotten perfect marks in both practical and written part of the Academy's test.

Then he saw the last member of his team and he had to control himself to stop himself from face-palming. Just like ten minutes ago Menma looked like a fricking mess. He looked completely nervous and was looking at the sheet of paper with a horror stricken expression.

Naruto didn't have to think too much in order to figure out that Menma had probably written shit in his test. The boy was definitely not one for this kind of things, in fact Naruto was surprised by the fact that Menma hadn't been caught cheating or done something stupid with the snakes

Naruto hoped that the last question, which would be revealed a few minutes before finishing this thing, was easy enough for someone like Menma, because if it wasn't then it didn't matter if him, Mito and Sasuki got perfect marks, Menma would still make them get expulsed from this test

He just hoped, for Menma's sake, that it didn't come to that, or Konoha would have to find another Jinchuriki soon.

Not knowing what else to do Naruto started to look for the other Genins that had caught his attention. Of course he easily saw the other Genins that graduated with him, alongside other teams from Konoha, but it wasn't them that had Naruto's attention, it was the multiple teams from outside the village

He easily saw the team from Suna that he had met before. All of them seem calm enough, and Naruto tried to guess how they were getting the answers to this task. He guessed that Kankuro's leaving to the bathroom had something to do with it, but beside's that he didn't have a clue

Then his focus went to the members of a team from **_Kumogakure no Sato (Village Hidden by Clouds)_**. This team was made by two girls and one guy. Both the guy and one of the girls had dark skin, with the guy having white hair and the girl crimson red-hair. The other girl form that team had fair skin, straight short blonde hair and a rather impressive bust.

Naruto was not a pervert by any means, but he couldn't deny something that was true. It's not like he got lost looking at the girl's body like many other guys here did when they saw her

Then his attention went to another girl, this time a Kunoichi from Iwa. This girl had short black hair and pupil-less, pink eyes. The reason for his curiosity towards this girl is for the rather poisonous glare that she was giving his whole team, specially to Menma, Mito and him, as soon as she saw them.

Naruto guessed that it was probably because of Konoha's and Iwa's past relationship, after all Minato Namikaze, their Hokage, had been the one to cause the most damage to Iwa during the last war

He just hoped that this wouldn't bring any unnecessary problems, after all even though he wanted nothing to do with his former family more than he had to, he still knew that the rest of the outside world saw him as another son of the Hokage Minato Namikaze, and the **_Akai Chishio no Habanero (Red Hot-Blooded Habanero)_** Kushina Uzumaki.

He, of course didn't like that. He wanted the world to know that he was a person of his own, and not a part of that dreadful family. He would use this exam to prove that to everyone, he would make sure of that

Now if only Orochimaru stopped seeing him like that and Menma actually didn't get them expulsed...

He now felt rather bad for that Hinata girl, who had the unpleasant privilege of beign beside's Menma for this test

Naruto looked to his side by mere curiosity, and like it had been for the last half an hour there was a girl sitting there. This girl had fair skin, red eyes and red hair that was short and spiky on the right side, while longer and straight on the left side. She also had brown glasses, and like many times in the last half an hour she was stealing glances at him.

Once she noticed he was looking at her she actually blushed just before focusing at her test once again. Naruto just raised an eyebrow in confusion, not having a clue as to why she acted like that

He really didn't care that much though, although he had to admit he was a little bit curious about her hair, after all as far as he knew that color of hair was not common, except for people with Uzumaki blood

'I wonder... is she an Uzumaki? that girl from Kumo could be one too" thought Naruto with a slight frown, going back to his test, although the only thing he did was just stare at the piece of paper boringly

It was after another twenty minutes that Naruto released a sigh, now thinking in ways to torture his idiotic teammates known as Menma. Having nothing better to do he simply stared at the boy for the last twenty minutes, and in that time Menma did nothing but to sweat and curse under his breath

'It will come to the last question', Naruto thought.

"Time is up! Put your pencils down since is time of the tenth question. If anyone doesn't pay attention to me, you're out!" announced Orochimaru, his silky voice getting everyone's attention

"First of all, this last question comes with another set of special rules that only apply to it" continued Orochimaru, making more than one Genin to whine in their minds. That was the last thing they wanted, more annoying rules!

"For starters, the tenth question is completely optional. You can choose to take it or not, it will depend on you" this got more than one raised eyebrow from the Genins, and Naruto was now trying to figure out what kind of game was the Sannin playing

In the other side of the room a girl with blonde hair, Temari, raised her hand, intending in ask about what would happen if someone decided not to take the question

She was ignored by Orochimaru though, who simply continued to explain "Be aware though, that deciding to _not_ answer the tenth question will mean that you and your team are disqualified from the exams" Now this really got some muttering between the Genins, but it was none other than Kiba Inuzuka the one that complained the most

"Then what's the point?! Of course we're all gona take the question with a rule like that!" complained Kiba quite loudly, althugh his sudden outburst just got an amused chuckle from Orochimaru

The next thing Kiba knew was that two snakes started to coil around his legs and were going up to his face, making the young Inuzuka more than a little bit pale

"That's brings me to the last rule. If you decide to answer the last question, but you get it wrong... You and your team will be forever prohibited from advancing from the rank of Genin no matter what!" announced Orochimaru, enjoying the looks of horror and shock that most of the Genin had

After that a series of yells started, but Naruto paid no attention to it, he was too busy thinking about this last question. Why those rules? In fact, the rules themselves didn't even make sense! Forcing someone to be Genin forever? He was sure that Orochimaru hold influence in the village, but there was no way that was ever going to happen, especially considering that there were people from other villages here

Naruto assumed that this last question, or to be more precise it's rules, were just another way to filter out people that weren't Chunin material. A Chunin needed to be leader material after all, and being a leader meant making hard choices on the battlefield or at the middle of a mission

This was one of those choices

Already knowing that there could only be one right answer. To take the last question head on. He just hoped that the rest of his teams got it too.

"Well then, make your choices... but think about it really well. Are you willing to sacrifice not only your carrier but the one of your teammates too?" asked an amused Orochimaru, making more people even more worried than before

Like Naruto though, more than a few couple of teams got out after that, leaving the Genins with barely half of their original number. Naruto was not paying much attention to that though. His focus was on his teammates since he was judging how they would react

Sasuki was too stubborn, Naruto knew, so she wasn't a problem. It was the other two that he was worried about. Menma might crack under the pressure, or Mito might accept leaving just for Menma.

Naruto could easily see that Menma was about to do something, if the way his hand was moving up meant anything. Guessing that he was about to give up Naruto had no choice but to act

"This test is nothing but bullshit" said Naruto loudly, a clod glare directed at Orochimaru

And like that Naruto got the attention of every Genin, Chunin and the one Sannin in the room. Menma stopped moving, his attention directed at Naruto just like any others

"I beg your pardon?" asked an amused Orochimaru, thinking that the blonde boy that was the source of his interest was failing under the pressure

"You heard me, Orochimaru-san. You're not fooling anyone! Everyone that has stayed at this point already knows what game you're playing!" announced Naruto, his arms crossed over his chest and his cold glare directed at the Sannin's snake like eyes

Of course Naruto knew he was bluffing. He had no idea how many here had already caught on about the last question, but as long as he got the show running then who cares, right?

"Oh? Is that so?" asked Orochimaru while coming closer to where Naruto was, a smirk plastered on his pale face

"Yes. Not only we already know about your little trick, but even if it wasn't that, who cares? We're Shinobis. We have a job that could kill us at any given time. Do you really think we have the time to worry about not being promoted ever? Besides..." at this Naruto leaned in, his voice was barely above a whisper but it still manage to get everyone in the room "...Genin for ever? I would really like to see you baking up those words of yours, Sannin. I see nothing but an empty treat"

After that both the blonde mage and the pale Sannin just stood there, their eyes firmly set on the other one's. Naruto could easily feel multiple snakes coiling around his leg and climbing up his body, but acted like if nothing happened.

Even when one of the snakes got close to his face and hissed, which made everyone take a deep breath, Naruto didn't react. He simply sat there, glaring at Orochimaru.

It was only after a few minutes that Orochimaru released another chuckle, before addressing everyone in the room, which made the snakes that were around Naruto to leave him alone

"Is that what you all think? You're still in time to quit, but that won't last forever" said Orochimaru, expecting someone to raise their hands and leave, but he got nothing.

The snake summoner just released a sigh before giving nods to the Chunins, who returned them in kind. After that Orochimaru just stood once again just in front of the desk he was before, now with a serious look in his face before addressing all the Genins once again

"I see..." said Orochimaru with fake disappointment "In that case I only have one thing to say... You all pass!"

Complete silence meet his statement just before the room exploded with questions and yells of excitement for some. Orochimaru was about to silence everyone up but an explosion stopped him on his tracks

What caused the explosion was nothing else than a sphere that had just released a lot of smoke, which in fact gave Naruto a really bad feeling. When the smoke disappeared two things were now visible

One was a board that said "Sexy and Incredible Anko Mitarashi"

And the other one was that his other sensei, Anko, was now standing in front of them, her fist in the air and a big grin on her face.

No one knew how to react to this, and for a moment there were no sounds except for the small cheer from Anko. That soon was replaced by the sound of four palms meeting a face, courtesy of the Genins of team 7

"Anko-chan... you're early... in fact you're way too early than usual" reprimanded Orochimaru while shaking his head and muttering under his breath about impatient children.

For her part Anko chuckled nervously while scratching the back of her head, knowing that she had messed up a little bit.

But could you blame her! She just wanted to make a grand entrance! Especially since not only her cute little Genin were here, but her sensei was also the one directing this test. How could she resist the temptation! It was like if someone showed her dango and told her it was not for her

What else could she do?

She had only one thing to say at this point though

"...Sorry?"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_An hour later_

After that awkward entrance, followed by an explanation from Orochimaru's part about what it truly meant to be a Chunin, the remaining Genin teams were now standing in front of the infamous training ground known as The Forest of Death.

In only a few minutes the second task of the Chunin Exams would start, and the anticipation could be felt from almost every Genin there

Between those Teams there was, of course, Team 7. They had just received their scroll, which was an important part of this task, and they were now waiting for their sensei, Anko, to start the task

It was simple, but not easy. The task itself was to reach the center of the forest with two scrolls, one an 'earth' scroll and a 'sky' scroll.

Of course each time would only get one scroll, and they had to get the other one from another team, which meant that at least half of the people here were not going to make it. Beside's that there was also the fact that the forest itself was quite deadly, which was the reason Anko made them sign those papers that basically said Konoha was not responsible of their dead

What a good thing to sign before entering a place called The Forest of Death, right?

There was another thing that made this task particularly difficult for not only Team 7, but also the rest of the teams from Konoha. Since they had a total of four members in their teams, it was decided that they had to bring two sets of scroll, which meant that Naruto and their teams would have to get three other scrolls, a sky scroll and two earth ones.

Right now each team was already standing in front of the multiple doors the Forest of Dead had. Naruto, alongside his team, was standing there, just looking at the forest with an emotionless stare, but on the inside he was wondering exactly what kind of things were in that forest. His sensei had spoke him a little about it so that if someone asked where he trained he could at least pretend he knew the place, but he was not expert

By his side Menma was looking at the forest with excitement, although he would give Naruto some questioning glances every now and then, but those glances would rapidly turn into glares before he ignored Naruto once again

On the other hand Sasuki _was_ just glaring at Naruto. She had already scolded the blonde about ding stupid stuff like that stunt he had just done with Orochimaru, to which Naruto had just answered that he was in no danger at all.

That had not calmed the young girl at all

For her part Mito was trying to start a conversation with Naruto, but the blonde would just cut her off with short and cold answers to her questions which, although it saddened the girl a lot, it didn't stop her from trying

Then just after one last call from Anko's part, every door opened at once, and multiple teams dashed at the forest, taking the trees in order to move cover more space faster. Other teams just entered the place walking normally, apparently not being in a hurry to finish this task

Team 7 was from that first group, and they were now moving through the forest at a controlled pace, with Menma on the front, Mito and Naruto just behind him on the sides and Sasuki at the back

After a few minutes the members of Team 7 went down from the trees and stopped in a small clearing.

"Well then, now what?" asked Menma bluntly at his team, although it was quite obvious that his question was directed at Mito, and to a less degree Sasuki. The younger blonde didn't like to admit it, but even he knew that planning stuff was more of his sister thing than his.

"You should be asking Naruto that, he's the expert after all" said Sasuki with a nod, her black eyes directed at Naruto who had to control himself to stop the groan that was about to escape his lips. He already had an idea of what was just going to happen and he didn't like it

"What do you mean by that, Sasuki-san?" asked Mito, wondering what her teammate was talking about. Menma too was curious, but to a lesser degree of course

"You guys didn't know?" asked Sasuki with surprise obvious on her face, getting a pair of negatives from Menma and Mito. For his part Naruto wanted nothing more than to end this conversation, but he should have known that his lie would caught up to him sooner or later

"This guy here used to train in this place! I'm sure he knows it better than anybody else!" said Sasuki while patting Naruto's shoulder

"What?!" asked both Menma and Mito loudly, making Naruto sigh in exasperation. Mito was now looking at him, obviously wanting some answers and to also tell him how stupid he was for training here, while Menma didn't believe it for a sec

Both Uzumaki-Namikaze children knew of course of this place. Their mother and father had talked them about it when they asked them about one day after hearing their Chunin instructor from the Academy mentioning it, so of course they knew that this place was no joke

"Like I would believe that someone like _you_ could train in a place like this!" said Menma to Naruto, not believing for one second that his loser brother could survive in a place like this by himself

But then a sudden thought entered the younger blonde's head. Alcor had told him to not treat Naruto lightly, and to always keep an eye on him. If someone like Alcor told him to be wary of Naruto then that probably meant he wasn't as weak as he thought

Specially considering what _will_ happen in the future unless he did something about it, or to be more precise unless he did something about Naruto

His mission was a hard one, and he knew that if some people knew what he had to do they would probably think he was crazy, but he would do anything to stop _that_ from happening!

"You can believe whatever you want, Menma" replied Naruto, an emotionless glance directed at Menma, who was taken out of his thoughts by the blonde "It doesn't change the fact that it is the true"

Not knowing what else to do Naruto had just decided to keep going on with his lie. It's not like he could just tell Sasuki that it was a lie. That would just complicate stuff even more, and he didn't need that, especially in a place like this

"But Nii-san! Training in a place like this on your own?! What were you thinking?! You could have got yourself hurt, or worst!" said Mito, not knowing if to be worried for her Nii-san's , mad at him for doing something so stupidly dangerous or just glad that he had survived this place

Her words only got another cold glance from Naruto before he replied in the same cold tone he normally used for her "Last time I checked whatever I did was not of your concern, Mito. Beside's I'm not as weak as you might think I am"

Mito wanted to say more, but the cold stare her Nii-san gave her stopped her. In the end she just stared at the ground after giving him a small nod, knowing that discussing this at this moment was not probably the best idea

That would not stop her from interrogating him later though

Meanwhile Sasuki was looking at the scene with curiosity. She of course didn't know the whole story between Naruto and his family. The only thing she knew was that they were in bad terms with each other, but for that reason she didn't know.

She would have asked, but the young Uchiha knew that if there was something that her friend valued was his secrets, so Sasuki would just wait until he felt confident enough to tell her

Naruto just released a mental sigh before looking around at the trees that surrounded him. If he was going to be honest, he really didn't felt like leading, but now he didn't have any other choice thanks to Sasuki

Not that he blamed her or anything. It was in the end of all things his fault for lying to her.

After thinking for a few moments, more than one plan started to appear in Naruto's mind. He didn't know if they were going to work, but he was now, against his wishes, the leader. He didn't mind if Menma wanted to lead but that might be even more problematic

Naruto turned to his team, which was waiting for him to say something. It was obvious that Menma was annoyed by this, but he surprised Naruto by not complaining.

"Alright... This is what we're going to do..."

The second task had just begun

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**And with this chapter the Chunin Exams arc starts! For those that were wondering were Sai was, well I guess this chapter answered that**

**It seems a lot of you don't like Menma at all. I guess that's my fault, making him so much of a pain in the ass, but I have plans for him as a character so I can't make him go away **

**Thanks to everyone that read, followed, favorite and reviewed my fic!**

**And of course thanks to **_**FlamingBlaze **_**for becoming the beta for this fic!**

**Next Chapter: Jiraiya is finally in town and the Exams continue**


	13. Forest of Death

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This Chapter has not been fixed**

**Chapter 11**

**Forest of Death**

_Konohagakure no Sato, the Hokage's office_

The young Yondaime, Namikaze Minato, sighed for what seemed like the a hundred times just today, his desk filled with multiple papers that were form him to sign

Now normally paperwork was something that really didn't bother the blonde Kage, since he could easily make a clone for him to do the job, but since a few months ago he had been using the paperwork as a mean to distract himself from the different things that were happening to his family

He had hoped, contrary to what Orochimaru had said, that putting Naruto with his siblings in the same team alongside Kakashi, who was like a big brother to the rest of his children, would make them bond, which would allow both him and his wife to start mending the broken relationship they had with their eldest son

Sadly it was not meant to be, at least not according to Kakashi's report about the team's performance. Sure, they worked well together, but it was obvious that Naruto had no intentions of becoming more than just teammates with the members of Team 7, with Uchiha Sasuki being the only exception

It didn't help neither that, according to what he had seen from Menma's attitude towards Naruto combined with Kakashi's reports, his younger son didn't care for his brother at all neither.

That just brought even more shame to the blue-eyed Shinobi. He blamed himself for that. He was their father after all! Had he messed up so badly that even his sons hated each other?

It was, at least, a small relief that his two daughters, Mito and Natsumi, did want to bond with their elder brother. Natsumi had now a tendency of telling everyone how 'cool' and 'awesome' her elder brother was

And Mito's love for Naruto was not questionable, after all just like his wife he had been confronted by an enraged Mito as soon as he had gotten home a few days ago and found his wife sobbing in their room.

After doing his best to calm his wife, which ended with her crying herself to sleep, he had gone to ask his daughter if he knew why Kushina was acting like that.

He would never forget that. There were few things that the Yondaime feared, and one of them had become his daughter yelling at him with nothing but venom on her voice about how it was his and Kushina's fault that Naruto didn't want anything to do with their family

He could have swore he saw her eyes going red and her hair moving like it did when her mother got mad at him too

The worst was that Minato couldn't really blame Mito for being mad, after all it was truly his fault that his family was the way it was. He could still not understand how he had neglected so much his eldest son

He and his wife had done everything they could to find something, _anything_ that could tell them that they weren't such horrible parents, even to the point of talking to the head of the Yamanaka clan, Yamanaka Inoichi, to use his clan techniques on them so that they could see their memories more clearly

But of course what they had found was not for their liking. The technique that Inoichi had used not only let them revisit their memories, but also let them feel what they had felt in a specific memory, and every time Naruto appeared in one, they had felt only one thing

Apathy.

It was like, for the first ten years of Naruto life, or to be more precise up to the point in which Orochimaru confronted them, they didn't care at _all_ about Naruto. It wasn't that they hated them or anything; it was just that they felt nothing towards him, which ended up being the key reason for them ignoring him so much

Minato couldn't understand how a father could feel like that towards any of his children. In all of those memories he had felt nothing but love and pride for the rest of his children, but every time it came to Naruto he had felt just nothing

The blonde released another sigh while massaging his temples. He knew over thinking this was just going to make things worse, after all he had told the same thing to his wife. Right now their reasons didn't matter. They had screw up a big time and the only thing they could do was to do whatever they could to make amends with Naruto

"I already know you're there, sensei. Please stop goofy around" said Minato out of nowhere, his attention once again in the paperwork in front of him

For a moment it looked like nothing was going to happen, until a man with long spiky white hair actually entered to the office through the window, a big grin plastered on his face

"Oh? Not bad, Minato-kun! You actually managed to sense me! I'm still light years ahead of you though! Especially when it comes to women!" said the man with a grin, making Minato to shake his head at his sensei's behavior, specially the last part

He really couldn't believe how much of a pervert his sensei could be sometimes, especially with that book of his. Of course he had read the material more than once, but he wasn't as obsessed as Kakashi, especially since if his wife found out he was reading that stuff she would kill her

Minato shivered for a moment. Those books made Kushina angry more than once, and when she was like that it was either him or his sensei that paid the price!

It was even worse when Tsunade joined too...

"Glad to see you back, Jiraiya-sensei" greeted Minato with a respectful nod towards the now revealed Jiraiya, who just waved his hand around like it was nothing

"Hey, have you seen Tsunade-hime? I went to the hospital to see her first but she wasn't there. Heck, I even went to see if Orochi-teme was doing anything, but I couldn't find him!" asked Jiraiya with a small frown. He had decided to pay a visit to his teammates first, but he had been unable to find them

"Orochimaru is in the tower that is the Forest of Death, sensei. I made him supervise the place for the Genins" said Minato, getting a nod from his sensei, who knew that the Chunin Exams had already started "And about Tsunade... she probably is in my house with Kushina-chan... She had been going there more often since, you know" said Minato sadly, getting another nod from Jiraiya, who now had a frown on his face

It was not a lie; Tsunade had been spending a lot of time with his wife lately. It was because of Kushina's mental state. She was, to put it simple, depressed. Her actions towards Naruto and his feelings towards his whole family had made her enter a deep state of depression

Minato would have preferred to just stay home and take care of his wife, but even with clones there was a lot of work to be done, especially with the Chunin Exams and other important things, like Akatsuki. Besides he couldn't trust clones with everything anyway.

Because of that Tsunade has started to spent as much time as she could with Kushina, after all anyone that knew the both of them would know that they were very close, almost to the point that someone would say that Tsunade saw Kushina as the daughter she never had

Of course no one ever said that, after all that would just have brought the rage of the female Sannin.

So Tsunade started to do her best to take Kushina out of her depression, after all it was obvious for Minato that it brought pain to Tsunade to see her surrogate daughter like that. She hadn't be able to do much though, and Minato knew that the only true way for his wife to go back to the kind and happy woman she was before was for them to make amends to their son

It was a lot easier said than done though

"Is it really that bad, Minato-kun?" questioned Jiraiya, and Minato knew exactly what he was talking about, after all he had informed his sensei, through the use of their summons, about the situation of his family. According to Minato the only people that knew about it besides his family was the three Sannins, and to a lesser extent Kakashi and Inoichi. Minato had informed about the situation to only the people that needed to know, but he didn't know if Orochimaru or Tsunade had told anybody else

He hopes they didn't though

Of course he didn't knew about the existence of certain dark mage, at least not yet

"It even worse, sensei" said the blonde with a sigh, his hand going through his golden locks.

For his part Jiraiya stared at the ceiling of the office with a frown, apparently deep in thought. He had been informed about the situation between the family of his apprentice and his eldest son, Naruto, which was one of the reason he came back earlier to the village

Thinking of the young blonde made Jiraiya frown even more. During his travel back to the village he had been doing some hard thinking about his current relationship with the eldest Namikaze-Uzumaki child, and to say he felt ashamed would be putting it lightly

He would not deny it. He had been one crappy godfather for Naruto. He _knew_ he should have been there for the kid, but he couldn't even remember one moment in which he actually acted like a good godfather to him, not even one!

Hell, he could easily remember the day in which Menma had signed the Toad's summoning scroll, making him, just like him and his father, a toad summoner, while Mito signed the slug one, courtesy of his teammate Tsunade. It was their tenth birthday and both he and Tsunade wanted to give something special to their godson and goddaughter.

Of course it was when Jiraiya started to think about that memory that he caught on something that brought shame to his heart. He couldn't even remember seeing Naruto in the birthday party, and he was damn sure he hadn't let the kid to sign the contract neither

Why? Why had he been such an idiot like that? There was only one thing that Jiraiya could think of that had made him act that way

The Toad's prophecy

Every since Jiraiya had heard about the prophecy given to him by the toads, which talked about a young boy with power never seen before that would be the center of the events that would bring a new age for the Elemental Nations, he had believed that said prophecy was referring to none other than Menma. He thought that the power the prophecy was referring to was the Kyubi, after all while there had been two Jinchurikis of the Kyubi before Menma, which were Mito and Kushina Uzumaki, neither of them had ever become a real master of the power of the fox, so Jiraiya had thought that, once Menma gained true mastery over the power of the Kyubi, he would become the one to truly bring peace to this world

Still, he knew that was no excuse! He couldn't believe how obsessed he became with that prophesy! It was for that damn thing that he had focused so much in Menma to the point that not only he had neglected Naruto completely, but he had also be rather absent around Mito and Natsumi!

He couldn't understand though. More than once he had actually _wanted_ to talk to Naruto, but just after he had those thoughts his head would bring the prophecy once again, and how important it was for Menma to be trained and prepared

It was like someone was whispering into his ear how important was for him to _just_ pay attention to Menma and no one else

Everything became worthless though, since the toads had informed him that the prophecy had become, to put simple, useless.

Of course Jiraiya had raged about that to the toads, but the only thing he had got was that the future had become too unpredictable for _any_ prophesy to be precise. It was the first time the toads had ever see something like that, and Jiraiya couldn't even thing what happened that made the future so unpredictable

He was glad that he hadn't told anyone about the prophesy now though. He hadn't wanted for anyone to burden themselves with the prophecy, especially young Menma. Beside's Jiraiya knew that prophesy sometimes had tricky wais of fulfilling themselves, so Jiraiya didn't want anything affecting it that much

Not that it mattered much now anyway

"I'm sure there's a way in which we can fix this, Minato-kun!" assured Jiraiya, a look of determination presented on his face, which the Hokage matched perfectly. Both of them were already planning stuff to make amends to Naruto, they just hoped it would work

"There's the Akatsuki too" Minato decided to change the subject, getting Jiraiya's complete attention

"So it's true. Kakashi did face against a member of the Akatsuki" muttered the white-haired man, getting a nod of confirmation from the young Kage. That was the other reason for Jiraiya to get back to Konoha so early, after all when it came to Akatsuki it was something you couldn't take lightly

"Yes. To be more specific Kakashi and his Jonin partner, Anko Mitarashi, faced against one of Akatsuki's members, which was identified as the S-rank criminal Zancrow, who's also known as _**Hinokami (Fire God) **_in the Bingo book, during a mission in _**Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves)**_" informed the blonde, getting a nod from Jiraiya

Kakashi had, of course, informed Minato about their meeting with the powerful member of Akatsuki. Kakashi didn't know about Akatsuki until he informed his sensei about his fight against Zancrow, but he had still decided that informing his sensei about an S-rank criminal was important

"I don't get it. Akatsuki members usually work on pairs, but this Zancrow guy was alone, and not only that but he left Kakashi and Anko live, so he wasn't trying to kill them, so why attacking them in the first place?" wondered Jiraiya out loud while deep in thought, not understanding the S-rank criminal's objective

Then Minato informed his sensei about the fight between his son Menma and his teammate Uchiha Sasuki against a user of _**Shōton**__** (Crystal Release)**_

This just let Jiraiya even more confused. Was that woman also an Akatsuki member? But from what he got she wasn't wearing the uniform, and even then she also had left Menma go, even though she was winning the fight against the two Genins

Jiraiya was just how Minato had been every since he had been informed about what happened in Nami. He was lost

There was one sentence that could easily describe Jiraiya's thoughts right now

_What the hell is going on?!_

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, in the Forest of Death_

Kurotsuchi was a determinate and prideful Kunoichi. Everyone that knew her, especially her grandfather and two teammates, knew that.

If there was something to which Kurotsuchi had more pride than her skills, it was her village. She loved Iwa with all of her heart, and she was willing to do anything in order to not only protect her village, but to also make sure that it became the strongest village on the Elemental Nations

It was because of that love that Kurotsuchi felt that she needed to prove something on the Chunin Exams. She wanted everyone to know that Iwa was stronger than any other village, especially Konoha, and she was going to take advantage of this test for that

And as soon as the second task started she had already gotten a prey on her eyes

Her grandfather had warned her about doing stuff like what she was about to do. He had told her to not go around picking fights on purpose, especially with Konoha's teams, but as soon as she saw the two blond kids that looked so much like the man that had made Iwa to lose the last war, she had decided they would be the first to fall by her hand

This was the reason of Kurotsuchi's current situation, which was her, and her teammates, being tied on a tree that was close to a river, in front of her a smirking pair of a raven-haired girl and one of the blondes she now wanted to inflict as much pain as she could, a red-haired girl, who was now holding her team's earth scroll, and the other blonde boy (who she had now noticed had some black on his hair) who was looking at her and her team with a perfect poker face

She wouldn't admit it, but being watched like that by those cold dark blue-eyes made her a little bit nervous

It had all started when Kurotsuchi had decided that she wanted to steal the scroll from this particular team. She didn't know which scroll they had, but it didn't matter to her, after all being the reason for the current Hokage's children to not pass the Chunin Exams was too good to miss

Luckily for her, her team had started relatively close to the other team she wanted to hunt or at least that what she believed based on which door her team had started from

Kurotsuchi had made it her mission to find that team and steal their scroll, but she was no fool. She wanted to become a Chunin after all, so she knew that spending all five days of the test just trying to find one particular team was a big no, which was the reason she had promised her team that if they didn't find them in the first day she would give up, something that they agreed to

It was, once again, her luck that helped her to find the team she was chasing. Her team had found them alongside a river just at the middle of the first day, and Kurotsuchi truly believed that she was one of the luckiest person alive, after all not only had she found them, but they were just lazing around doing nothing! Just sitting there, talking and eating some fish

It was like they were asking to be ambushed or something!

They were

Her team had launched a surprise attack at them when she believed they had their guard down. She had been the first to get them and was pleased when she manage to stab one of the blonds, the one that looked like the current Hokage the most, on his chest with her kunai

What she wasn't expecting though was for her 'victim' to puff out of existence like a clone. She was completely confused for just a second before her brain processed the fact that she had probably fallen into a trap

It had been to late though, since before she had been able to do anything the other blond had actually _exploded_, which of course affected her and her team since they were close to him, but not enough for the explosion to do a lot of damage

The explosion had made its purpose though, since both her and her teammates were left shocked, confused and unbalanced just before she felt a rather strong pain in the back of her head. Then she saw nothing but darkness

When she had woken up she was met with her current situation, which was her and her team being tied up to a tree whit the team she now hated just in front of her

She had just woken up a few minutes ago, and she had refused to say anything to them. She just glared at them with so much venom as she could

It looked like the blonde that was smirking at her was about to say something, but the other guy of the team stopped him from saying anything, saying that they couldn't lose more time and that they had to move

Kurotsuchi was no expert, but she was good at figuring out stuff, and it was clear for her than there was definitely some tension between the members of the team. The shortest blonde had just given the other guy, who she believed was the leader of this team, as powerful glare before just huffing and jumping to the trees, followed by the other two girls and of course her team's earth scroll

Her teammates were still out, so for just a moment it was just her and the boy with a perfect poker face. She thought that he was going to taunt her, insult her, or maybe even kill her, but she definitely wasn't expecting the words that came from his mouth

"My sensei once told me that if the trap was too obvious, it was better to just not take the reward... Maybe you should follow that advice from now on" and with that he too left, leaving her more bewildered than ever

For a moment she just sat there, looking at the river and blinking, trying to process what he had just told her. He wasn't mocking her, his tone suggested none of that, in fact his calm tone just told her that it was that, a real recommendation for her! Like a real advice that, if she followed, would make her great

Receiving a suggestion from the boy that captured her did not set well for the young Iwa Kunoichi

Before it was just a thing she wanted to do for her village, but now?

Now it was fucking personal!

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_The next day_

Running through the trees that covered roughly 80% of the forest was none other than Naruto, apprentice of Zeref, although it was more like jumping from tree to tree rather than running

The young man was scouting the area around the place in which his team had decided to stay for a while; which was a small clearing with a big hollowed tree.

They had spent the night there, with someone always up and guarding the place, and now that the sun was already up Naruto had decided to scout the area around the place a little bit, just to make sure that no one else was following them or something like that

Sasuki and Mito had wanted to come with him, but he had shut them down saying that it was best to not separate the team like that and that if something happened he was more than able to deal with it, which earned a scoff from Menma that Naruto preferred not to comment about it

He had yet to see anything worth commenting though. He had half expected to be chased around by that Iwa team they had captured just yesterday. It wouldn't surprise him, considering the rather killing glare that the girl with pink eyes from that team had sent his way before he left

What happened yesterday was the result of a little plan that Naruto had managed to cook up when he had become the unofficial leader for this part of the Chunin Exams. The blonde might not be the expert Sasuki thought he was about this place, but he did know that there was at least one river here, which he has used for his little trap

It was rather simple. He had just told both Menma and Mito to make clones using _**Bunshin Daibakuha (Clone Great Explosion) **_technique, which they had. Naruto used the same technique and made two clones, one for him and another one to transform into Sasuki, since she didn't knew the technique at all.

Then he had simply made the clones to practically fool around in the river while he and his teams watched from the teams, waiting for another team to attack the clones, thinking that they were real.

They would just stay here for a day though, after that Naruto had simply thought that the best way to catch people was when they got close to their destination, which was the tower at the middle of this damn forest

It was a strategy that Naruto thought it would work, after all his team already had one earth scroll and one sky scroll, so taking out _any_ team that was on their way to the tower guarantee that his team would have the other two necessary scrolls in order to pass this task

Besides they might be able to find teams that were rather tired out, and making traps before that would easy too. In the end all of the members of Team 7 had accepted Naruto's plan, although Menma did mostly to avoid being pestered by the girls again

Menma might dislike Naruto, although that was putting it lightly, but not even he would let his animosity with his sibling to ruin something like this test

Naruto was taken out of his thoughts once he reached a tree that overlooked a rather small clearing. There wasn't much to say about this clearing at all, but there a few things that were out of place that got Naruto's attention

Namely the tree people that were there, alongside a rather big bear that could easily tower over him

It was obvious for the blonde that two of the people there were probably death. He could tell that just easily by how much blood he could see they have lost around their bodies, so Naruto's attention went swiftly to the last living person of this team, who was now cowering from fear, which was cause by the bears sudden movement at her

Acting on instinct Naruto jumped from the branch he was standing from, which put him just over the bear, whose focus was still on the now sobbing girl. While falling to the big animal Naruto focused his _**Yami no Maho (Dark Magic) **_on his right hand, and in a fast second a completely black sword appeared on his hand. The blade looked like a Tanto, only that from the hilt to the blade it was completely black

Then just as he reached the bear´s head from above Naruto's sword stabbed the animal's cranium in one rapid movement. The bear didn't even have a time to react before his death came upon him by Naruto's blade, which went directly through the animal's brain.

With another swift movement Naruto jumped from the now falling animal, which had been just standing on its hinder legs. Naruto landed just in front of the individual he had just saved, while the bear's body felt backwards, making a big sound just as it hit the ground, the black sword Naruto had just made disappearing from the beast's head, leaving his wound completely open

The young mage just released a small sigh before turning around and looking directly at the girl he had just saved. Naruto was faintly surprised that she was the exact same girl who had sat beside's him in the first task.

"Are you all right?" asked the blonde, not knowing what else to do at this situation. He didn't know why he had saved; he just didn't like the idea of someone dying eaten by a bear.

The girl looked at him directly into his eyes, the horror stricken expression she had just a second transforming into a relieved one, just before a strong blush came to her cheeks, which just confused Naruto even more, not knowing why the girl would blush like that

Was she having a fever or something?

"T-thank you" whispered the glass-wearing girl, barely loud enough for Naruto to hear it, but since he had heard her he just decided to play it nice to the girl, after all she was just about to die, and her teammates were already dead too

"Don´t worry, it was nothing" replied Naruto, a small smile on his lips, doing his best to not put more stress into the red-headed girl. The girl just blushed even more at seeing his smile though, which made the blonde to raise a brow in question , but he decided to not comment on that

Then Naruto turned to where the corpses of who he assumed were the girl's teammates before shaking his head sadly

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to help your friends" said Naruto while looking at the dead bodied, not noticing the rather cold look that the girl sent on their direction before looking at Naruto with so much devotion on her eyes that, if the blonde had seen it he would have taken a step back just because of the surprise

"It's okay, you don't have to worry about that... you did save my life after all, and it was our fault for letting our guard down" said the girl, who was now standing up, while looking at Naruto, the devotion on her eyes masked completely to the point that not even Naruto was able to see it

Naruto turned to look directly at the girl as soon as he felt her tugging up the sleeve of his jacket. When he turned he was surprised, although he tried his best to hide it, when the girl presented her scroll to him, which happened to be a sky one

"Please have this, I won't be needing it anymore and you saved my life so, it's the least I can do" said the girl, her crimson red eyes looking directly at him with some amount of nervousness.

Naruto for his part didn't know how to react to this. Sure he had saved her, but now he was more than ready to just let her be and go back to his team. He actually hadn't even thought of asking for her scroll, which now that he thought about it was pretty dumb on his part. Not knowing what else to do he just nodded before grabbing the scroll from her hand and putting it in his pouch that was on his leg

This would give his team a great advantage though. They still had four more days and now they only needed one more scroll, which could be easley obtained if they went with the plan of waiting close to the tower

Not having anything else to do here, Naruto was more than ready to leave, but another look at the girl's eyes made him stop on his tracks. The girl had just helped his team a lot, and even if it was a reward for saving his life it did not mean that Naruto didn't feel grateful for her gift.

And now that he thought about it, leaving her alone just like that was definitely not safe for her, after all the girl had just been about to die by a _bear_. Not wanting to have the girl's death on his conscience, Naruto decided something that he was sure his sensei would not agree if he were to know

"Do you want to come with me?" asked Naruto, making the girl to look at him in surprised; after all she thought he was just going to leave her alone now. In fact she was already thinking of multiple ways for her to _follow_ him after he left, after all not only she _wanted_ to, but she also _had_ to

It was, after all, her mission!

So deciding that this proposal was way too good for her to lose it, she just smiled brightly at Naruto before nodding, adjusting her glassed and answering

"Hai!"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Some minutes later_

"What the hell happened to you, Namikaze?" asked a smirking Sasuki, looking at Menma with nothing but amusement on her black eyes. By her side Mito had a mixed expression of worryness and a little bit of amusement too, while Naruto just raised an eyebrow at Menma's current situation and the red-headed girl, whose name Naruto found out was Karin, had an expression of pure surprise

The reason for this was that Menma had just arrived, but he definitely looked different that from when he left. His whole body was covered in some sort of liquid that looked like saliva, and the boy's expressions of sheer annoyance was enough to make this sight quite entertaining

"A big fucking snake is what happened!" said Menma darkly, a glare directed at no one, although in his mind it was directed at the stupid snake that he had just dealt with "I was taking a piss before the stupid thing came and tried to eat me!"

"And then what? Did it puke you because you tasted so terrible?" asked Sasuki with a smirk, getting a glare from the blonde. Perhaps Sasuki should have felt more worried about his teammates, but since he looked alright she wasn't going to lose a chance to annoy the blonde kid

You could call it payback for his comments to Naruto before the first task

"O haha, pretty damn funny!" the sarcasm dripping from Menma's voice was more than obvious "I killed the damn thing, that's what happened! It even disappeared in a puff of smoke! Like a fricking summon!"

That last comment made Naruto think. Like a summon? As far as he knew the only snake summoners were Anko and Orochimaru from the Sannin, which meant that the snake Menma had encountered was probably their doing

'Great, like this place wasn't troublesome already, its look like someone decided to put even more stuff here...' thought Naruto with a sigh and a shake of his head. At least he hoped that giant snakes were the only stuff Anko or her mentor had decided to put here

"Wait, who's the chick?" asked Menma while looking at Karin, whose eyebrow twitched at being referred as 'the chick'. She didn't have to do anything though, since Mito slapped Menma on the back of his head

"What the hell?!" asked Menma at his sister

"You should show more respect than that, Menma-nii! You can't just go around acting rude like that! Kaa-sama and Tou-sama taught us better than that!" said an angry Mito, to which Menma just ended up nodding, not wanting to fight with his sister

He always lost those fights after all

"Yeah whatever... still, who is she?" asked Menma once again, and while Karin was ready to answer, she stopped when Naruto put a hand on her shoulder

"Her name is Karin. I found her while scouting the area and decided to bring her with us since her team was... eliminated. She also gave me her scroll, which means we only need one more" explained Naruto, expecting some sort of complain from Menma, after all apparently he liked to complain about almost everything Naruto did

He had already explained the same situation to Sasuki and Mito once he came back with Karin and besides Sasuki and Mito looking at her with some amount of suspicion and annoyance, which Naruto didn't know the reason of, the three girls had no problem

The reason for that was the rather close distance that was between Karin and Naruto. The girl practically refused to leave his side, and she was from a few inches to openly rubbing her arm with Naruto's

That did not set well for both girls

But to his pleasant surprise Menma just nodded with a cold look on his eyes before looking at the Karin and grinning at her "I didn't think there were many other people with the same hair-color as Kaa-chan and Mito-nee here. Are you an Uzumaki?!" asked Menma, who was rather exited at the idea of finding more people from his clan, after all both him and Mito had hear a lot of stories of the Uzumaki clan from his mother, and the idea of meeting another Uzumaki was rather thrilling for the young blonde, which was the reason he asked his question so bluntly

"I wouldn't know... I never met my parents" said Karin, her eyes not meeting anyone's, after all she felt a little uncomfortable at saying something like that

Menma went from exited to ashamed in a moment. He didn't want to bring a sore subject for the girl, but apparently he had "I'm sorry, I shouldn't..."

"Good one, Namikaze. You really can't keep that mouth of yours shut it, can't you?" interrupted Sasuki with a frown, which got a glare from Menma

"Oh, bite me, Uchiha!" shot back Menma, getting a glare from the young raven-haired girl. It looked like both of them were going to start arguing, which actually made Naruto to roll his eyes at them and Mito to release a sigh

"Enough! We can't go around loosing time with stupid arguments. We need to move, now" commanded Naruto, stopping his to teammates from starting another one of their fights. Menma just gave him a glare before looking at the other way and Sasuki just nodded at him.

"What´s the plan then, Nii-san?" asked Mito to Naruto, who decided to ignore the way she had called him. He had just stopped a fight from happening so he really didn't want to start another one.

"We go to the tower and prepare an ambush for the teams that will come. We still need one more scroll" informed Naruto, getting nods from Mito and Sasuki and nothing from Menma, who had just decided to ignore Naruto in order to clean the slime that still covered his body

"I think I can help you with that, Naruto-kun" said Karin, becoming the center of attention once again, although Menma was still trying to clean himself

"What do you mean, Karin?" asked Naruto, deciding to ignore the suffix Karin had used when referring to him. He wasn't the only one to notice it though, since Sasuki was openly glaring at the girl now while Mito's right eye was twitching in annoyance

Naruto openly ignore those things too

"I'm a sensor, Naruto-kun" said Karin like it should explain everything. Naruto understood immediately, and by Mito's surprised expression she did too, while Sasuki and Menma just looked plain confused

"You're a what?" asked Menma

"She's a sensor. Someone that has the ability to detect other people's chakra signatures easily" explained Mito, getting expressions of understanding and surprise from both Sasuki and Menma

"You don't have to help us, Karin. You already gave me your scroll. You owe me nothing" said Naruto while staring directly at Karin's crimson eyes. He understood what the girl was proposing, and while the help would definitely be a good advantage for his team, he didn't want to force the girl to help them like that. He had just met her after all, and she had already helped his team a lot on his opinion

Karin just shook her head before giving Naruto a smile "You saved my life, Naruto-kun, and you're even helping me by taking me alongside with you. This is the least I can do to help you. Please let me be of use to you" said Karin, her eyes pleading to Naruto to accept her offer.

For his part the blonde was, definitely surprised by how much Karin wanted to help him, and he had the feeling that telling her no would just 'cause more harm than good, so the young mage ended up just nodding, which made the glasses wearing girl to smile brightly at him before simply closing her eyes for a moment

Naruto was about to ask her what was she doing, after all when she offered help he thought of her helping them detect any team that might be close while they moved towards the tower. He knew that sensor type Nins had a max range for their skill, but he stopped when Karin opened her eyes just before looking directly at him

"There's a group of then people a few kilometers in that direction, Naruto-kun" informed Karin while pointing just behind Naruto "It looks like four of them are running from the other six, but at the rate they're moving they will be captured soon" ended Karin before fixing her glasses and then looking behind her "If we go that way we will encounter another team of three people who I can feel are rather tired, and over there" Karin pointed at the direction in which the tower was "is rather free, which would make it the best rude to reach the tower" finished the girl, not noticing, or caring, the awe in which the other members of Team 7 were looking at her since her whole attention was on no one but Naruto

The blonde's eyes actually widened a little bit at hearing her words. He was definitely not expecting for her to have such a good control over her sensorial abilities, but he couldn't deny that it was an incredible skill

His mind then processed the information Karin had just granted to him. Four people being chased by other six individuals? That could mean a lot of things, but the possible answer was that a team of four people was being chased either by two teams who had made an alliance of some kind, or some of them were clones

"Are any of them clones?" Naruto decided to voice out his question to Karin, not knowing if the girl would be able to answer him correctly, but he was pleasantly surprise when she answered in negative, saying that none of them were clones

"Wait, what does that even mean?" wondered Menma out loud, looking completely loss at this point

"It means that a team of Konoha is probably being chased by other two teams. Can you tell us anything else, Karin?" questioned Naruto, getting a nod from the red-head

"Yes. There's another chakra signature there too, alongside the group of four. It's a small one, and it doesn't fell human... In fact, it feels like a dog" added Karin

"A dog? That means is probably Kiba!" in a rare show of ability Menma voiced his opinion, getting a nod from Naruto

"Yes, it's probably him and his team..." murmured Naruto, thinking of what to do. For one part they could just ignore that situation and move on. They could either go and attack the other team Karin had just mentioned or they could go directly to the tower and wait in the area round it, but that definitely didn't set well with the blonde, after all someone that he could probably consider a friend too was in that team, and he wasn't going to abandon him like that

Naruto turned to his team, all of them waiting for his call, although Menma looked ready to just go running in the direction Karin had pointed a few seconds ago, and he was sure that if it wasn't because of Mito's hand on his shoulder he would have probably done so by now

"We don't have time to lose, let's go and help our former classmates before they get killed" commanded Naruto, getting nods from all of the members of Team 7, although Menma looked shocked for a moment, after all he was expecting for Naruto to forget about them and move on

Mito for her part was definitely glad and happy that her Nii-san had made that decision, while Sasuki was not that surprised, after all she knew that Shikamaru was in that team, and she also knew that he and Naruto had some sort of friendship

And if she knew something about the blonde that was her friend, it was that he would never abandon a friend like that

Karin's true feelings were hidden by her serious expression, but on her head there was a chibi version of her dancing around happily for being of use for the one person who had become her little obsession

Not that she would ever tell him that, or do anything about it at this point

Her master would kill her if she did

"Karin you will go and front and guide us to where the team with the dog is being chased down. I'll be just behind you. Menma and Mito will be just behind us and Sasuki you will be on the back, if you can keep it on, use your Sharingan" Naruto explained their formation and without anything else to say the five Genins jumped to the trees and started their march towards what would be without a doubt a confrontation against six others Shinobis

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile_

Nara Shikamaru was a lazy person. He was, after all, a Nara, so being lazy was practically on his genes.

Of course with his laziness also came the Nara's greatest gift: An unmatched mind. It was no secret that almost every member of the Nara clan were, to put it simple, geniuses, and Shikamaru was not the exception

Sadly he now found himself, alongside his team, in a situation in which his mind was not able to think of any solution.

At least not a solution in which he got out of there alive that is

His current situation was a bad one. His team, which was formed by Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino and he himself, had managed to caught a team from _**Amegakure no Sato (Village Hidden by Rain) **_out guard, which was rather easy thanks to Sakura's Genjutsus, Ino's _**Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Technique)**_, Kiba's cooperative techniques alongside Akamaru and his own _**Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique)**_

Thanks to their teamwork, and the fact that it was a surprise attack, they had managed to defeat the Ame team and steal their scroll, which was an earth one, and since his team had a sky one they were more than ready to go directly to the tower and wait around it for another team for them to ambush the. It was a simple strategy and they had decided to follow it

Sadly it was a mistake on Shikamaru's part that brought the current situation. They had defeated the Ame team, but they had left them unconscious instead of just killing them. Now Shikamaru hadn't killed anyone before, and he was damn sure that neither Ino, Sakura nor even Kiba with all of his boasting had ever done it either, which was one of the reason he had left those guys alive. He didn't want his team to go around having traumas at the middle of a place like this

The other reason was something that Shikamaru was not proud off. Just like the other members of his team he hadn't killed anyone yet, and when the situation appeared he doubted. It would have been simple to just kill them while they were unconscious, but Shikamaru had doubts of performing the act

His mind had told him that it was the most logical decision, but he just wasn't able to do it, so he and his team had left them alive, which ended up biting them in the ass

Right now they were being chases through the forest by the Ame team they had defeated just a few hours ago. Apparently they didn't like the fact that they lost to a team from Konoha so now they wanted revenge on them

It didn't help neither that both Shikamaru and his teammates were rather tired. While they had managed to defeat the Ame team, they didn't do it without suffering some damage or spending some chakra. There was also the fact that they have been running for a while now and his team was definitely not the one with the greatest stamina

It became worse when, according to Ino, other three guys, definitely another team, started to chase them alongside the Ame team. Ino had been able to caught this on thanks to the little skill she had as a sensor, and the fact that their enemies had basically multiplied just worsted Shikamaru's current situation

And just by looking at the rest of his team Shikamaru knew that they would not be able to keep going for much longer, let alone fight six other Shinobis

Shikamaru had never been a religious people. It wasn't that he didn't believe in Kami or anything about that, it was just that he cared to little about that stuff

But now? His mind was asking for only one thing

A miracle

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Naruto_

The group of five was moving at high speed at the place in which, according to Karin, their former classmates had ended up. She also told them that their chakra was very low, and that if they didn't get there fast there was a good chance that they would die

"Naruto-kun, three people have reached the same area in which your friends are, but the other three are staying a little further back, probably in case something happens" informed Karin to Naruto, who just nodded his head at hearing this.

'That could be a problem' thought Naruto, not liking the current situation. They didn't know exactly how string the enemy was and they had the advantage in numbers.

Naruto was not arrogant, but he was confident in his skills, after all he did manage to defeat a missing Nin like Momochi Zabusa, so he truly believed that taking care of the enemy was not going to be that big of an issue. The real problem was in his own powers, or to be more specific, his magic.

Even after being in the same teams for a few months Naruto had never showed his magic to anyone, not even Sasuki. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, it was just because he didn't want to answer question that he might not be able to

He also didn't like the fact that he was sure that if he showed his magic, his skills would be reported back to his former father by either Kakashi or Anko; after all he was sure that Minato asked stuff like that periodically.

It was for that reason that Naruto had started acting rather cold with Anko. Before he didn't have that much of a problem with her, he was mostly just annoyed by the fact he couldn't stop the weird advanced she did on him, but now? Naruto definitely had trust issues with anyone mostly related to his former family.

He just didn't want much people finding about his magic. He was sure that they would probably think it was something related to chakra, but the question about how he had learned those skills might still be asked, and the last thing Naruto wanted was to put his sensei on the spot

"Sasuki, Menma, Mito" said Naruto, getting the attention of his teammates "you three keep going and help Shikamaru and the others, Karin and I will go and deal with the other team, understood?" for a moment it looked like both Sasuki and Mito wanted to argue, but a look from Naruto stopped them both and they just nodded, while Menma didn't even bother to spare a look at his sibling and simply went in the same direction they were already going

Naruto and Karin separated for the formation and started going directly at the point in which Karin had detected the second team was while Menma, Sasuki and Mito kept going toward their original destination

For his part Naruto would have preferred to do this alone, but he was responsible of Karin's actions. He was, after all, the one that brought her along with his team, even though she was a complete estranger. Sure, she had helped him and his team, but that didn't change the fact that she was a complete stranger

And if there was something Zeref was now adamant about Naruto learning, was for him to never low his guard

The pair continued walking through the trees until Karin signaled Naruto to stop. Once there it wasn't that hard for the blonde to feel the presence of the members of the team he was hunting.

He and Karin were hidden in the branch of a tree, with one of the guys they were searching for standing in another branch just below them. A little bit behind that guy, in another branch, there were the two other guys of that team

Apparently they hadn't felt neither him nor Karin since none of them had even acted. Naruto started analyzing the situation. He knew he was going to have to deal with the three of them by himself, after all he couldn't order Karin to kill on his behalf, and even if he could he had a little doubt that the red-head would be able to do it anyway

After all when he found her she was about to get killed by a bear of all beings

Naruto made eye contact with Karin, his eyes practically telling her to stay put, to which she just nodded. The blonde then got a kunai out and sprung into action

Naruto fell rapidly towards the guy that was just below him, who he just now noticed had brown hair and an Ame fore-head protector on his head as a bandana, and just before the guy could even do something the blonde stabbed him on the neck with his Kunai while his other hand stopped the guy from screaming. Naruto twisted the knife on the guy's neck just to make sure the job was done, blood splashing on his face by that movement

His original plan was to do the deed quietly, but sadly that was not meant to be, since as soon as he confirmed that the guy stopped breathing he heard a yell of "You bastard!" followed by a rain of shuriken going directly at him

Naruto turned to face the shurikens, still with a hold of the guy he had just killed, and used his corpse as a shield to stop the deadly projectiles.

As soon as he felt that all of the kunais had hit the body he let it fall from the branch just before using an attack of his own

"_**Rairyu no Hōkō**__** (Lighting Dragon's Roar)**_!" Naruto's lightning spell was actually aimed at the branch in which the two guys that had attacked him were standing on. At seeing the attack both guys jumped out of it, one to the right and the other one to the left

Naruto wasted no time, and as soon as his spell destroyed the branch he dashed towards the man that had just moved to the right. He had been able to land in another branch, but as soon as he landed he was met with Naruto, whose hand was already coming down on him with his _**Rairyu no Saiga (Lighting Dragon's Crushing Fang)**_

The guy, who had short black hair, reacted by shielding his face with his right arm, which was cut by Naruto's spell. The arm wasn't cut off completely, but it did have a very big cut just at the middle of it

The guy grunted in pain and grabbed his arm, his attention going to his limb for a moment, which proved to be his downfall since as soon as he tried to look at Naruto again he was met with a black projectile that was going directly towards his face

He had no time to react, so the dark spell pierced through his forehead and brain, killing him in an instant, his body going limp and also falling from the branch to the ground

"_**Raiton: Jibashi (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder)**_" Naruto's attention went to the last guy at hearing those words. The blonde could easily see the jutsu coming towards him, and in any other direction he would have either dodged or blocked the attack, but just like a dragon that see someone uses his element Naruto just stood there, letting the jutsu to reach him easily

The guy that threw the jutsu had a smirk on his face, thinking that his jutsu would kill the bastard that had just killed his teammates, but that expression went from confident to shocked and horrified as soon as he actually saw the blonde guy actually _eating_ his jutsu

That moment of shock proved to the his last mistake since as soon as Naruto stopped eating his attack the blonde moved so fast that he wasn't able to see it, but he was definitely able to feel the black orb of magic that hit his left shoulder, exploding and letting a whole in his body

"GAHHH!" the last individual screamed in agony, his body falling aimlessly to the ground since Naruto's attack had launched him from the branch he was previously standing on. His body met the ground head first with a crunch, and Naruto was sure that if his attack hadn't already killed him, then the fall would have ended the job for him

Naruto landed on the ground, the dead bodies of the team he had just destroyed laying around him, his expression one that showed no emotion. He had been sporting the same cold expressions since the beginning of his assault on this team.

The blonde released a sigh and passed his hand through his hair, unconsciously staining it with blood. The blonde didn't felt any source of pride by his doings. He hadn't kill them for the excitement or anything like that, he had just done it because he had to

He didn't even felt the same excitement that he had felt when he fought Zabusa. It was hard to feel that considering how one-sided the whole fight was.

The blonde would have kept thinking about his doings, but a hand on his shoulder, courtesy of Karin, stopped him. Naruto turned and looked at the girl right on her crimson eyes. She was looking at him with an emotion that Naruto was not able to identify, and for some reason he felt that asking would have just made things even more complicated, so he just settled and giving her a reassuring nod.

After that Naruto went and searched the bodies for anything useful, and he was definitely surprised at finding not one, but two scrolls, one of each type, in the body of the first guy he had killed

This confused Naruto for a moment. If they already had the two scrolls needed to pass the test then why would they go around chasing another team? It made no sense for Naruto, until a thought made realize what had happened

They were probably helping the other team that was hunting Shikamaru's team, and they weren't doing it for the scrolls or anything, they were doing it just to help another team from their village. His sensei had told him that this was world in which either you killed or you might end up dead, and that the people in which you could truly trust were very few, and yet he was now seeing what looked like a show of companionship

The blonde just shook his head, not wanting to over think anything of this, knowing that it would affect him more that he would like to, and then he turned to look at Karin to tell her that they had to met with the rest of his team, but he stopped once he saw that she was focusing just like when she had showed them her abilities before

"Naruto-kun, there's another team moving towards us at quite the speed. At this rate they will be here soon" said Karin, making Naruto to scowl for a moment

"Karin, I want you to go and give this to my teammates" Naruto said, giving the scrolls back o the red-head girl, who was looking surprised at the blonde "I'll go and deal with this new team, you make sure that my team and Shikamaru's team get out the area in which they are" then he made a clone using _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)**_, the clone nodded at the original and signaled Karin to follow him

Unlike with Sasuki and Mito before, Karin just nodded and left just after telling Naruto in which direction the new team was moving and giving him a smile

Naruto moved at Jonin like speed with the intention of intersecting the new team that Karin had just told him. He didn't know if trusting a complete stranger like Karin was a good idea, but he really had no other options. He needed to get all of his former classmates out of that place, after all if another team was moving in this direction then that meant that more teams might appear, and that could be dangerous.

Besides sending a clone alone might have failed, after all he didn't know if the jutsu had some sort of limit when it came to the distance between the original and the clone itself, and if worse came to happen he didn't want Karin at the middle of another fight

Naruto stopped on his tracks out of a sudden. He was now standing on the ground below, and while looking up he said in a voice that echoed everywhere "I know you're there, so why don't you guys show up already"

Naruto stood there for a few seconds, wanting to see if they were actually going to appear. If they did then he might be able to end this without having to kill anyone else, but if they didn't... then he had made a mistake at announcing his presence like that

Luckily for him his internal question was answered once three people appeared in from of him, two girls and one guy. He was surprised for a moment when he saw that it was the same red-headed girl with dark skin, the white haired boy and the blonde girl from Kumo that had caught his attention back on the first task

The dark skinned girl was looking at him with a glare while the guy looked a little nervous. Meanwhile the blonde girl was looking at him with a cold look, and Naruto knew that she was definitely analyzing his every move

"We end this in peaceful way if you just turn around and leave... if you don't then I will be forced to kill you" Naruto decided to cut straight to the chase, after all he didn't want to lose too much time here

The red-headed girl actually laughed at hearing his words, while the guy, who was sucking on a lollipop, now looked even more worried than before. The other girl just gave Naruto a raised eyebrow

"That was a good joke. Have you even seen your current situation? We're three and you're just one! Honestly, I can't believe you Konoha Nin can be so arrogant!" huffed the red-headed girl while glaring at Naruto

"I don't know, Karui, Samui... What if he holds some sort of power out of this world that could defeat us easily?! And what if we die here?! And what if sensei decides to avenge us by attacking Konoha?! We could start a World War!" the dark-skinned boy said in an exuberant way while looking at the two girls, who now Naruto knew were called Karui and Samui.

Karui got a few tick marks on her forehead before she slapped the boy on his head "Shut up, Omoi!" said the girl, who was now glaring at the boy named Omoi, while the other girl, Samui, released what seemed like an exasperated sigh

Naruto blinked a few times, not knowing how to react to this team dynamic, so he decided just to shut up for the time being

"My teammate is quite correct. We have the numerical advantage. Tell me, why we shouldn't kill you?" asked Samui in a cold tone, snapping both Karui and Omoi out of their little discussion.

Naruto for his part just nodded at her question; after all it was a valid one. Naruto decided that explaining them that he was far stronger than a normal Genin was probably just going to get him more laughs, so he simply decided to show them

Slowly he started to release his magic, pure power swirling around him like a black tornado. His sensei had told him that in terms of strength he was probably at Jonin level, but that when it came to simply raw power, he was definitely stronger than that

And now he was showing it

All three of the Kumo Nins were more than shocked at not only feeling, but _seeing_ the power that the blonde had. They knew that some people were able to materialize their chakra, but this was completely different at what they had been told

The worst part was that they couldn't even identify the energy that Naruto was releasing. It definitely didn't felt like or looked like just normal chakra, but what else could it be?

It was starting to become very hard to breath since that power was followed by a powerful killing intent that no Genin should posses, and for a moment the trio of Kumo nin could have swore that just behind Naruto a gigantic winged reptile with black scaled and red crimson eyes appeared, but as soon as it appeared it also disappeared

And in just a second Naruto stopped unleashing his magic

The blonde for his part didn't like to show his strength like this, but he just thought that it would be a lot better than to start a fight that would probably end in unnecessary death.

Naruto's cold expression never changed during the few seconds in which he had showed them his magic, and his freezing dark-blue eyes were looking directly at Samui's blue ones.

"Well then, what's your answer?" asked Naruto in a tone that would have made his sensei proud. He gave the Kumo Nins a few minutes to compose themselves, and Naruto was able to notice how they were actually able to just talk with their eyes, something that showed that their bond as teammates was truly strong

Then without any warning Samui threw a smoke bomb, filling the place with dark smoke. For a second Naruto thought that he was going to be attacked, but he was proven wrong once he felt the tri of Kumo nin going the opposite direction in which they were going before, which meant that they had decided to leave

From the outside Naruto showed no emotions before turning around and leaving towards the place in which his team was supposed to be alongside Karin and Shikamaru's team, but if they had followed his orders then they were probably gone already, but on the inside the blonde released a small mental sigh, feeling grateful that the Kumo nin's survival instinct had won over their pride. He didn't know what kind of first impression he had left of those three, and he really didn't care. It wasn't like he was going to be really close to any of them anyway

Or so he thought

Meanwhile, in the Kumo Nin's head:

'What the hell is wrong with this village?! How can they have a monster like him as a fricking Genin?! Raikage-sama isn't going to like this'

'I knew this test would be a problem! I told them that we would find someone that would be able to destroy everything by himself but they never listen to me!'

'I don't know what that was... but it was definitely more than just cool'

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_That night_

Naruto stood over a branch, the moon being the only source of light around, not that he found it difficult to look in the darkness. Just like his hearing and smelling had improved when he became a dragon slayer, so had his vision. He could see perfectly in the darkness now, which of course had made him the perfect individual for the night shift

Naruto had expected to have to go and search for his team, after all he had sent a clone and Karin to tell them to move out of where they were, so he was surprised once he got there and found not only his team, but Shikamaru's too and Karin, who looked quite annoyed, all just waiting there for him, although it looked like Menma wasn't doing it for the goodness of his heart

The only thing he had noticed were the two dead bodied that were lying around, both obviously burned to death while the third member of this team was now tied up to a tree.

Of course Naruto eyes had landed on Sasuki, who he was guessing was the only one who knew _**Katon (Fire Release)**_ techniques, but the girl did the best to not make any eye contact with Naruto, something that had worried the blonde, after all if he was right this was her first kill, and he definitely knew that your first kill could affect you more than you would like it too

When Naruto interrogate them about why they haven't left, all of them, including even Kiba which had surprised Naruto and with the exception of Menma, had told him that they weren't going to just abandon him alone in the forest like that

Shikamaru, and surprisingly Sakura and Ino were the more vocals about it, after all if had been Naruto and his teams the one that had practically saved their lives, so there was no way they were going to pay him back by leaving him like that

Sasuki and Mito had said nothing, but the looks in their eyes showed that they didn't like abandoning their teammate like that, while Karin was looking down in shame for not being able to accomplish the task Naruto had given to her, but the blonde had just waved her off

The blonde had just sighed before nodding and asking what to do with the guy that was still alive. He didn't know what to feel when everyone said to leave him tied up like that, with the exception of Karin who had just shrugged.

Considering what had just happened, it wasn't impossible for this guy to come later looking for revenge for not only his team, but also the other team Naruto had deal with, but since the blonde didn't want to dwell much on this place he had just accepted it and left alongside his team and Shikamaru's.

However Naruto had created a _**Kage Bushing (Shadow Clone)**_ without anyone noticing and had left to deal with the guy. Naruto was really not fond of killing, but something needed to be done, and showing mercy in the wrong moment could easily end up making things even worse

At least he didn't have any memories of killing that guy. The clone had killed itself after it, which meant Naruto had received no memories from him. He knew that he was still responsible for the guy's death, but something was still something

After that the group of now nine people had started to travel together, their destination being the tower to end this test since both his team and Shikamaru's had already the four scrolls they needed

It was when night finally descended upon the group that they had decided to rest. They weren0t able to cover much terrain since Shikamaru and his team were tired, but at least they were sure that tomorrow they were going to reach the tower, and with Karin's abilities they were even able to escape unnecessary issues

Naruto had offered to do the night watch; which was what had brought him to this situation in the first place: Him standing on a three branch doing nothing but to overlook the little camp that they had made for the night

A movement from the camp site got Naruto's attention, and it wasn't hard for him to identify the person that had just walked out of the place before sitting in the base of a tree, apparently deep in thought

Naruto made a clone to take his duty before going over to where his friend was. He was planning to talk to her anyway as soon as they reached the tower, but he decided that now was as good time as any other

"Can't sleep?" asked Naruto while sitting just besides his friend, Uchiha Sasuki, who was startled for a moment before realizing it was her blonde friend the one that had come over

"Not really" muttered the girl while looking down. Naruto had never seen his friend like this, and he definitely didn't like it

"Anything on your mind?" asked the blonde, and for a moment it looked like Sasuki was just going to ignore the question but then the girl released a sigh before looking at his friend's dark-blue eyes

"I killed those two guys today" said Sasuki in almost a whisper, and Naruto was once again surprised about how the prideful Uchiha could act so vulnerable like this, but he kind of understood it, after all he knew that beyond that mask of confidence there was still a normal girl

"Yes you did" Naruto commented, noticing how Sasuki flinched for a moment at hearing his words. The blonde then did something that truly surprised the girl: He put his arm around her, giving her a half hug

"But you did it to protect your classmates, Sasuki" said Naruto, getting the girl's full attention "You didn't do it just for the sake of it. You didn't do it just to be cruel, you did it because if you had to. Because of you hadn't, they would have hurt people that you knew, and you should not feel ashamed about that... I'm not telling you to start enjoying it Sasuki, but we're ninjas. We will have to kill again in the future, we both know that... I know it might affect you, but please don't let it eat you alive... I wouldn't be able to stand seeing you like that... You know I'll be always here for you, so please if you ever need to let your heart out you know where to find me"

Sasuki's eyes were showing nothing but shock at hearing her friend's words. Yes, she had been feeling remorse for killing those guys, but the thing that she had actually feared the most was for Naruto to start looking at her differently. She knew she was delusional, but for some reason she actually thought Naruto might stop being friends with her just for that, which thinking about it now was incredible stupid

Unconsciously Sasuki rested her head in Naruto shoulder, and the blonde found himself tightening his hold over the Uchiha girl. For some reason that the girl couldn't understand she was now feeling more safe, warmth and comfortable than ever. She didn't know what she was feeling now towards her blonde friend. The only thing she knew is that she wouldn't have minded if this moment continued forever

"Do you really mean it? To always be there for me?" asked Sasuki in a shy tone that was definitely alien for her

"Of course I do. It's a promise, Sasuki" was Naruto's simpler answer, and Sasuki knew perfectly how Naruto was with those promises of his

"Thank you" muttered the girl, getting a squeeze on her shoulder by Naruto, whose thought were also similar to hers

'No Sasuki, it should be me the one thanking you...'

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_The next day_

The members of team 7 were now standing in front of Karin in a hall. They had got to the tower a few hours ago and they had already being told about the meaning of the scrolls by their sensei, Kakashi: True balance between the mind and the body

They had separated from Shikamaru's team just before entering the tower, and after talking to Kakashi for a bit the members of team 7 had gone to explore the tower a bit, after all they still had time before the test ended, so they had some tire to rest

The reason they were now standing in front of Karin was because the girl's sensei, who was man that was wearing nothing but a cloak that hid all of his body. The only reason they even know he was a man was because of his voice. Anyway they were standing in front of her because she was now leaving with her sensei. She had after all lost the test the moment she lost her teammates, although her sensei didn't look affected by losing two members of his team.

They were saying goodbye to the girl they had met during the task, after all if it wasn't for her they probably have faced a lot more troubles in that dreaded forest, so they were definitely thankful towards Karin

Everything was doing fine until Karin did something that no one saw coming, except for her sensei of course. She gave Naruto a kiss on the cheek while blushing, and then she actually left almost running, promising that it wouldn't be the last time they would met, her sensei following her while shaking his head

Naruto just stood there, definitely surprised and confused about what had just happened. He couldn't even remember the last time he had been kissed in any way. Last time it happened it had been Mito the one that gave him a peck on his cheek, but that was went they were kids, and Naruto didn't like to even think about that past

The blonde turned and was once again surprised by his team's reactions. Menma just looked like he didn't care at all about what was happening; in fact he was already leaving. No, it was Mito and Sasuki's reactions the one that surprised him

They were both glaring at him with a lot of heat that would have made any lesser man to start begging for forgiveness, but Naruto was just plain confused. He really didn't care that much about why Mito was glaring at him, but Sasuki completely different. What had he done now to get the rage of his best friend like that?

"Baka!" Sasuki practically yelled at Naruto before leaving with huff, leaving an utterly shocked and confused Naruto behind. He almost didn't hear Mito's words "Nii-san no baka" since they were a lot more subdued just before the red-head girl also left, leaving a blinking blonde at the middle of the hall, not knowing that to do now

"Women are troublesome, aren't they?" Naruto would have been more surprised by Shikamaru's sudden appearance, but he was still trying to think of any reason for Sasuki to be mad at him, but he just couldn't think of any!, so he ended up just nodding at his other friends words, and then he made sure to remember to ask his sensei about woman

Sadly that was a theme that not even the Dark Lord knew about

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, with Karin_

"You messed up" said the calm voice of Karin's 'sensei', both him and the girl walking through the halls of the tower. His words got a twitch from Karin's eyebrow

"No I didn't! I kept an eye on Naruto-sama during the entire test!" said the girl while glaring at the cloaked figure, which didn't look affected by her glare at all

"You were supposed to _just_ keep an eye on him, not help him, Karin"

"Whatever" was the girl's answer, and she would have continued with her stubbornness if it wasn't because of the cloaked man's words

"Master might not like this, Karin" that did made Karin's eyes to go wide in both surprise and horror. The last thing she wanted was to upset their master. Sure he wasn't someone that got mad easily or someone that treated them like garbage, but they had seen just how ruthless he could be sometimes

And the last thing they wanted was to be on the receiving end of his fury

"I-I'm s-sure he won't b-be that mad... right?" the girl said, although it was plainly obvious that her worlds were more to reassure herself than anything else

"I don't know" said the cloaked figure "Why did you change the plan, anyway? Master put you into this to just observe him, not help him"

"I didn't have that much of a choice" said the girl with a sigh "Those stupid teammates you gave me actually let a bear to kill them. I was about to deal with the stupid animal but then I felt Naruto-sama coming to where I was, so I had to improvise!" Karin's eyes then became glassed before she released a dreamy sigh "At least I got to spent time with Naruto-sama!"

The cloaked figure just decided not to comment on that. He didn't know the details, but apparently their master had brought Karin along one time to the village, and in that time her task was to simply report to their Master about Naruto-sama's doings.

And to say that the girl had liked the blonde would have been an understatement

The next time he had talked to Karin she couldn't stop mumbling about 'wonderful chakra' and other stuff like that with a look of longing

"Let's just leave, Karin" said the man before putting his hand on the girl's shoulder. There wasn't really any more need for them to be here. They weren't even going to be able to watch the next part of the Exams anyway

"And where are we going exactly, Kimimaro-san?" asked the girl

"Just to report to Master. I don't know how, but I'm sure he had other ways to keep an eye on Naruto-sama even without us" and with that both left in a _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**First of all (and yes, I know is kind of late), Happy New Year! Let's see if I can finish this fic in 2015!**

**Being honest, this chapter could have definitely gone better. This is definitely not my best chapter, and I will probably rewrite it in the future, but for now we're going to have to deal with this one (sorry)**

**It seems a lot of you people want for Naruto to give Mito a chance already. That moment will come, I assure you, but not right away. Soon? Yes. By next chapter? Nah**

**The only thing I will say right now about future plot-points is that during and after the Chunin Exams a lot of stuff about Naruto's neglect will be revealed (To you the readers and to some characters)**

**Thanks to all of you for reading, reviewing, following and favorite this fic! I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner**

**Next Chapter: The Preliminars (For those that wanted more action!)**


	14. A Spot on the Finals

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**Chapter 12**

**A Spot on the Finals**

_Forest of Death's Tower, Arena_

"The first fight of the preliminars will be between Uchiha Sasuki and Inuzuka Kiba" announced the referee, one Uchiha Itachi, in his normal monotonous voice

Kiba released an exited yell before moving to the center of the field while Naruto just gave Sasuki a nod which the girl returned with a smirk before also moving towards the middle of the stadium, although in a much calmer way than Kiba's

After the five days of the second task had ended, all the remaining teams, which made a group of twenty-eight Genins, were grouped in the biggest room of the tower and were explained of the real reasons behind the Chunin Exams by none other than the Hokage himself, Namikaze Minato

It had all gone downhill after that since the Hokage had announced that, since there were too many Genins they would have to make a preliminary round before the final task. This of course had brought some complains from the group of Genins, especially those that had just arrived to the tower and had no time to rest. The blonde Hokage gave everyone the chance to bail out of the preliminars but no one took it, after all they had already got here so what was just one more extra fight?

After that the Genins were introduced to the person that was going to not only supervise for the preliminary rounds, but also for the final task: Uchiha Itachi, Sasuki's brother. The young girl had of course been surprised about that; after all she didn't know that her Onii-sama was going to have this kind of duty

After that all the Genins moved to the high part of the room, in which their senseis were already waiting for them. Not only were the Jonin senseis there, but there were also other people ready to watch the matches, between them the Hokage himself, Orochimaru, Tsunade and Jiraiya of the Sannin, and for some reason that Naruto couldn't understand Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina was also there

Both parents smiled proud fully at their children, getting a small smile from Mito and a grin from Menma. Naruto for his part just ignored them, and instead of staying alongside his team he stood a little away from them, or to be more precise exactly to Shikamaru's right

Then the first match was announced, and it ended up being between Sasuki and Kiba, which brought us to the current situation. Naruto took this opportunity to look around the place, wanting to see exactly who the Genins that had passed the second test were

Naruto was definitely surprised when he caught the eyes of the Iwa Kunoichi they had ambushed on the first day. Apparently she had managed to pass the test, but she still had a grudge on him and his team, or at least that's what Naruto got by her powerful glare

Other team there was the Kumo team he had met on the second task. As soon as his eyes landed on them he got a glare from Karui, a nervous glance from Omoi and the same cold analytical look from Samui. Just behind them there was a man who Naruto guessed was the team's sensei. This person was one big dark-skinned man with a set of swords on his back and that looked like he was... rapping? Naruto didn't know, but it looked like the man's team wasn't so fond to his music

The Suna team he had met before the start of the Chunin Exams was also there, alongside their sensei, who's half of his face, was covered by a cloth. Besides that surprisingly there were four Konoha teams, three of them from his graduation group and the fourth one being the team that he had caught a glimpse off before the first task

There was also another team from _**Kusagakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Grass). **_He wondered for a moment of any of them knew about Karin just before his attention went once again to the middle of the room, in which a serious Sasuki and a grinning Kiba with his partner Akamaru on his head were

"Hajime!" announced Itachi before moving away, and as soon as he did both Sasuki and Kiba jumped back a little bit before looking directly at their opponent

Normally Kiba would have started with a direct attack, thinking that he could easily end a fight like this quickly enough. However not only he knew that Sasuki was strong, but he also caught a glimpse of how truly deadly her _**Katon**_ _**(Fire Release) **_techniques were back in the second task

For Sasuki she was simply following her usual tactic, after all her style of fighting revolved around reading the opponent's movement and making the perfect counter-attack, something that worked perfectly with her two tomoe Sharingan, which the young girl was showing proudly.

"_**Shikyaku no Jutsu (Four Legs Technique)**_" muttered Kiba before dropping in all fours, chakra surrounding his body and his appearance turned more feral than before. The young Inuzuka took something from his pouch before giving it to his dog partner, who was now on the ground besides him. This something ended up being a pill that Akamaru eagerly ate, but Sasuki had no time to figure out what kind of pill was since Kiba dashed at her at an incredible speed.

As soon as he reached her he tried to land a fast right on her face, but Sasuki saw it coming easily and avoided the attack. Kiba moved out of her range rapidly before dashing at her again. Just like before Kiba's right hook was easely avoided by Sasuki when she leaned her body backwards.

Kiba went for a third stricke, however Sasuki easely saw it once again, but instead of waiting for it she met Kiba's , surprising the Inuzuka, and managed to connect a punch directly on his stomach

Kiba grunted in pain, and Sasuki would have followed up her attack with another one, but she stopped and turned around as soon as the sound of something spinning caught her ears. As soon as she turned she saw what looked like a spinning vortex moving directly at her

Sasuki quickly moved out of the way just before the vortex landed where she was, revealing itself to be another Kiba! Sasuki was confused for a moment before hearing Kiba saying "Thanks Akamaru" which made the girl understand a little bit

"Let's do this together now then! _**Gatsuga (Fang Passing Fang)!**_" yelled Kiba before him and the transformed Akamaru started to spin wildly, becoming a pair of destructive vortex that were going directly at Sasuki

"_**Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)!**_" the young girl didn't let panic get to her though. No, she had to win this, after all not only was her Onii-sama watching it, but also Naruto, so there was no way she was going to lose! She quickly threw a set of small fireballs directly to both vortex, with some of them aiming at the middle of them.

They acted like they expected and quickly changed directions at mid air in order to avoid the fire technique. Because of the way the attacks were directed Kiba and Akamaru landed opposite to one another, which was just what Sasuki wanted, so the young girl quickly moved towards the human one of the pair

As soon as Kiba landed he was more than ready to attack once again with Akamaru, but when he went to look at his partner the only thing he saw was a pair of red eyes with two black tomoes that were spinning rapidly. Kiba staggered back almost as if he had been slapped, his eyes closed, knowing that if he looked at her eyes too much he would be screwed

Sadly it was already too late

Kiba opened his eyes just in time to look at his partner; who still looked like him, being pinned down in the ground by Sasuki. Normally this situation would have confused him for a moment, but instead of that he acted on instinct and with a hard kick aimed that connected directly to her face Kiba managed to get her opponent out of his partner

Kiba moved to help Akamaru up, but as soon as he tried to do that he was met with a hard kick to his chin that sent the young boy flying until he landed on the hard ground with a thud, leaving no air on his lungs

He couldn't understand the situation at all, or at least he couldn't until the image he was seeing started to slowly disappear, turning into the reality. The one that he had hit had not been Sasuki but Akamaru, while the one had just attacked him had been none other than the girl responsible of the Genjutsu

Kiba tried to get up, but when he did he met the cold feeling of steel being pressed at his throat, courtesy of a kunai being held by Sasuki. To their side he manage to caught a glimpse of Akamaru, who looked like he wanted to go and help his partner, but that he was afraid of what Sasuki might do if he did

"Do you yield?" asked Sasuki with a smirk, pressing her kunai even more to Kiba's neck. The boy for his part glared at her, definitely not liking the fact that he had been bested so easily, but sadly for him there wasn't much he could do at this point. He didn't like it, but he had been defeated

"Yeah" said Kiba after cursing while releasing a sigh. Sasuki then actually helped him up, her smirk still on her face

"Winner: Uchiha Sasuki" announced Itachi in his normal calm voice, but some people could easily caught the pride that had on his voice.

"Damn, and here I thought Kiba was going to make it" muttered one of Kiba's sensei, Sarutobi Asuma

"Yeah, but he got a tough opponent after all" said the other sensei of Shikamaru's team, one Shiranui Genma, to his Jonin partner

"I don't get it, why did Kiba started attacking Akamaru like that?" asked a clearly confused Ino, and it looked like Asuma was about to answer but he was beaten by Naruto

"Genjutsu" answered the blonde boy, getting not only the attention of Shikamaru's team but also his own "Kiba made the mistake you should never do against an Uchiha: he looked at her eyes. The Sharingan is a powerful tool for illusions, and I'm sure that Sasuki used one when she got close to Kiba"

"That's correct, Naruto-kun. She probably used _**Genjutsu: Sharingan (Illusion Technique: Copy Wheel Eye)**_, a basic technique of the Sharingan that allows a great variety of illusion" continued Kakashi, getting nods from Anko, Asuma, Genma and the Genins of both teams

Then both Sasuki and Kiba went back to their teams since neither of them had any serious wounds. Sasuki still had her smirk on her face when she got to hear team, who received her with several grades of praise, although she one she appreciated the most was Naruto's short "Good job" while Kiba was patted on the back by his teammates

He was also doing his best to apologize to Akamaru for hitting him while he was under the Genjutsu

Then the next fight was announced by the big screen that was making the choosing of battles randomly. It ended up being between Temari, the girl from Suna Naruto had met before, and Tenten, who was from the only Konoha team that wasn't part of his graduation class

After being called by Itachi both Kunoichis came to the center if the field. Naruto was definitely interested in this fight since he didn't have a clue about the skills of them both

The fight started with Tenten showing her skills of expertise, which was _**Bukijutsu (Weapon Technique)**_, however none of the multiple weapons that she threw towards Temari actually managed to hit the target, something that shocked the members of her team, after all Tenten never missed

It became worse for the brunette once that Temari announced that she would be defeated once her fan showed her three moons. This had just enraged Tenten even more, thinking that the blonde was just underestimating her

Tenten kept trying to land a hit on Temari, but it was futile. She ended up deciding to go close-range, but it was already too late. Temari saw her coming and with a flick of her fan a powerful gust of wind had sent Tenten flying just before she was smashed againt the handle of Temari's gigantic fan

Suffice to say that the girl was out cold

"Winner: Temari!" announced Itachi, to which immediately Rock Lee reacted by going down to make sure that his teammate was fine. Then Temari's next action confused Naruto just as much as Karin's kiss had

She looked up to where he was and while looking directly at his eyes with a smirk she winked at him before going up to join her team. Once again Naruto was left confused by another ones action, but he wasn't the only that had noticed the blonde's gesture though

Sasuki did too, and confusing Naruto's slight confused expression with something else, and also remembering his little moment with that Karin girl, the raven-haired girl pinched his side quite hard, getting a small jump from the blonde

"What is it?" asked Naruto to Sasuki while slightly rubbing his side, getting nothing but a huff from the girl. Honestly she didn't know why she had done that, it wasn't like it was her problem what type of relationship Naruto had with that Temari girl anyway

But she just didn't like it at all! And since she couldn't go there and slap some sense into the blonde girl she had to work with what she had close to her

Namely Naruto

The blonde mage released a sigh, thinking that it would be just a lot more easy and simpler if Sasuki were to tell him _why_ she was mad at him now, but Naruto knew his friend, specially how stubborn she could be, so he knew that he was getting nothing from her right now

He would have to ask her later though

"It seems that Suna has some strong Genin" said one of the senseis of Team 8, one Yuhi Kurenai, who had just came closer to where Naruto's and Shikamaru's team were alongside the other members of her team

"Indeed. Honestly I thought that Guy's and Hayate's team was going to have an advantage considering how much they push their team when training" continued the other sensei of Team 8, a purple haired woman by the name of Uzuki Yugao

"But why would none of her attacks hit?" asked Choji, who was eating from a bag of chips, to his senseis, but it was Asuma the one that answered the question

"No, she probably used some form of _**Futon (Wind Release)**_, after all it isn't that weird to find _**Futon (Wind Release)**_ users on Suna, and that last move with her fan definitely showed that she was at least some knowledge about the element" explained Asuma, getting nods from all the twelve Genins and the Jonins, who of course trusted his word since it was known that he was one of the few _**Futon (Wind Release) **_that Konoha has

"Look! The next fight is about to be decided" announced Sakura, getting everyone's attention to go to the board that was now changing once again until it stopped into two other Konoha Genins

"The next fight shall be between Aburame Shino and Akimichi Chouji" announced Itachi, and after a shared glance between both boys they separated themselves from the rather big group they were in order to move down towards the field

It was rather obvious for both Kurenai and Yugao that Chouji was at least nervous about fighting Shino, probably because they were from the same team. For their part the other two members of Team 9, Kurama Yakumo and Hyuga Hinata, were now at loss as to who to cheer for, so they ended up just wishing both of them good luck

"Chouji-san, please don't go easy on me just because we're teammates. If you did this test would become meaningless" said Shino in his normal quite voice, surprising Chouji for a moment before the rather large boy gave him a nod, which Shino returned easily

Chouji was in fact nervous. Not only was he now going to fight the unofficial leader of his team, but he also knew that Shino could easily outsmart him just like Shikamaru always did, so the Akimichi clan heir definitely knew that it was not going to be an easy fight

For his part Shino didn't know if he was lucky or not. On one side he was fighting again someone that he knew a lot, which meant he had a lot of information about how Chouji's fighting style, but on the other hand he would have liked to not be the one to take out his teammates from the Chunin Exams

"Who do you think will win, Ku-chan, Yu-chan?" asked Anko to her two good friends and senseis of the two Genins that were about to fight

"I honestly don't know, Anko-chan" said Kurenai, to which Yugao nodded since she was also thinking the same "It could easily go either way, but I think is will mostly depend on Shino-kun's action"

"What do you mean?" asked Genma, who was munching the tip of a senbon

"You'll probably see it soon" it was Yugao who answered the question, her attention completely on her two students

The Jonin's conversation got Naruto's attention, who was now studying both combatants. He didn't know them very well, but he knew a little bit of what their clan could do. A far as he knew the Akimichi clan focused on techniques that worked with their rather big bodies, while the Aburame clan worked in tandem with their insects, the kikaichus.

"Hajime!" Itachi announced, making both Genin to get on guard, before he moved out of the area

"_**Baika no Jutsu (Multi-Size Technique)!**_" Choji wasted no time, and as soon as he used his clan technique his whole body expanded, becoming a lot bigger than it originally was

"_**Nikudan Sensha (Human Bullet Tank)!**_" Chouji followed up his expansion by rolling towards Shino at an impressive speed, his body being impulsed by nothing but chakra

Shino moved out of the way just before the attack reached him, but Chouji didn't stop his pursuit at all. His spinning body turned around just to chase Shino once again

Then something that freaked out both Ino and Sakura, who actually shrieked a little bit, happened. From Shino's sleeve a cloud made of nothing but his kikaichus appeared. The cloud itself was not that big, and the insects moved directly to where Chouji was

Just like he expected his kikaichus were completely repelled by Chouji's spinning form. It was not really surprising, but he just wanted to make sure about it.

Once again Shino avoided being crushed by Chouji's body, but while Chouji was once again changing his course Shino threw a smoke bomb where he was standing, completely hiding his form

This didn't stop Chouji though, who kept going towards the really black smoke screen that was now covering the middle of the field, but he changed trajectory once Shino actually moved out of the smoke area. Chouji was slightly confused by this, but he wasn't going to lose his chance, so he went top speed towards Shino, who was nor running away from him

"_**Mushi Kame no Jutsu (Insect Jar Technique)**_" muttered Shino while ending the hand-seals, actually forming a rather big dome made of nothing but the insects that had got out of his body from the moment the fight had started. The dome was bigger than Chouji and the insects form which it was made of were actually flying at high speed around Shino, making both Hinata and Neji, who were watching the fight, remember certain Hyuga technique

This didn't stop Chouji though. His body impacted against the insects, and while a lot of people actually thought that the kikaichus would be crushed easily they were proven wrong once the dome actually managed to stop Chouji

But it didn't last for long since after a few seconds of struggle Chouji actually manage to go past the part of the barrier that he had collided and enter the dome, but as soon as he did more insects appeared to close the entrance that Chouji had made, hiding completely the form of the Akimichi from everyone's eyes

"Shino must be in a world of pain now" said Menma while watching the fight, getting nods from the rest of the Genins, with the exception of Naruto

"I highly doubt that" said the eldest blonde, getting everyone's attention

"Huh? And why's that? Can't you see that Chouji got him trapped?!" shot back an annoyed Menma

"I'm sure Shino over would like to disagree" answered Naruto while signaling to the center of the smoke cloud that was made before, making every Genin to look there. They had been so focused on following Chouji that they haven't pay attention to the smoke screen, so it was definitely shocking for them to see Shino actually standing there with an unreadable expression, looking directly at the dome of insects in which Chouji and 'Shino' where supposed to be

"B-but how?" asked a bewildered Yakumo, not understanding what had happened. She wasn't the only one though, and almost every other Genin, with the exception of Shikamaru and Naruto, were sporting a confused expression

"A clone?" asked the lazy Nara to his senseis, to which both Asuma and Genma nodded

"I guess it would be the _**Mushi Bunshin no Jutsu (Insect Clone Technique)**_ from his clan, right?" said Kakashi, taking his eyes off his favorite book for a moment to look at both Kurenai and Yugao, although both woman just ignored the man, getting a sweat drop out of him

It was not really a surprise for Kakashi to be ignored by them, after all they didn't like the fact that the silver-haired Jonin liked to read that porn everywhere. It wasn't that they disliked the book itself; it was more of the fact that Kakashi would read the damn smut no matter the place, time or situation

It was infuriating for a lot of them

"But that clone used a technique! Can those kinds of clones use techniques like the _**Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone)**_?" it was Mito who asked, and Anko decided to answer with a grin

"Nah, he just made everyone believe the clone was using the technique, making it make the hand-signs and everything, but it was shades over there the one that actually did the deed" said the snake summoner while pointing at Shino

"And now it looks like Chouji is trapped in Shino's technique" said Naruto, looking at how the dome made of insects started to become smaller, almost to the size of Chouji himself

It was after a few minutes that Shino actually called his insects off, and when he did everyone was graced by the sight of a passed out Chouji, who besides being obviously unconscious had no other obvious wound

"Winner: Aburame Shino!" announced Itachi after checking over Chouji to make sure he wasn't dead. Besides being drained of his chakra, courtesy of Shino's insects, he didn't had anything else wrong

The medic-nin hurriedly took Chouji out, although this required a lot of them to do so because of the young man's rather big body

After that Shino went upstairs to where his team was thinking of how he had won the battle. Once that Chouji had been trapped on his little prison, said prison had become so small that Chouji couldn't even spin properly. His insects had taken that time to start sucking him of his chakra to the point he had simply passed out. Not his best of plans but at least it worked

After being congratulated for his win Yugao excused herself in order to go and check on Chouji too. After that the screen that was choosing the fights once again flared to live until it stopped in two people that almost no one in the room recognized

"The next fight shall be between Omoi and Kentaro" then two boys, one of them being the dark-skinned boy with white hair from Kumo that Naruto had met on the Forest of Death, and the other being a black-haired boy young man that looked like he was 17 years old wearing grey and brown clothes that hid almost all of his body with the exception of his hair and eyes that was from Kusa came down to the center of the field

What truly interested not only Naruto but also Mito about this fight was that both Genins had swords with them, which probably meant that they had at least some sort of skill in the art of _**Kenjutsu (Sword Technique).**_

Naruto had never truly seen a fight between sword users. Sure, he had fought against Zabuza, the situation didn't allow him to admire his technique, so now that he had the opportunity to watch a fight between sword users he was definitely interested

And who knows? He can easily create swords using his _**Yami no Maho (Dark Magic)**_, so maybe learning Kenjutsu was not a bad idea

For Mito she couldn't help to want to see the fight, after all Kenjutsu was probably her favorite art. Her Kaa-sama had personally trained her, and she truly loved the art of the blade. Her Kaa-sama had also tried to teach Menma, but the blonde's strong point was definitely Ninjutsu and he never really got an interest on learning much of Kenjutsu anyway, thinking that Ninjutsu was just cooler

'Boys' had thought both Mito and Kushina at hearing those words coming from Menma's mouth

As soon as the fight started it was obvious that the two boy's skills were focused on Kenjutsu, after all both of them started directly to fight with their swords, and Naruto was openly surprised by Omoi's skills, after all the first time he had seen the white-haired Kumo nin he looked like a nervous wreck, but now? He looked completely focused and ready to defeat his opponent

And it was obvious that he was winning

You didn't need to be an expert so know that Omoi had the advantage here. His attacks were more fast, clean and precise that those of his enemy. Not only that but Omoi was also combining his Kenjutsu with Taijutsu, something that apparently had caught his opponent of guard since he was not able to defend properly against Omoi's attack

The fight turned even worse for the Kusa nin when with one good slash Omoi managed to cut him on his arm, and that was followed by a kick that made the sword the Kusa nin was wielding to fly away to the other side of the field.

This was followed by the conclusive movement of the fight. The Kusa nin actually managed to put some distance between Omoi and him, and seeing that his enemy was coming at him he, in an intent to protect himself, used the technique known as _**Doton: Iwakageiseki (Earth Release: Rock Shelter)**_

Sadly, for either he was lacking chakra, didn't know how to the technique right or simply panic, the dome that he made was quite small, barely able to keep him inside. Omoi had easily noticed this and kept going towards the dome of earth. No one knew what the Kumo kin was about to do, but more than one people there, including Naruto, got the idea as soon as they saw sparks covering his sword

Then with a might thrust Omoi's blade, which was already charged with electricity, pierced the dome of earth. The blade's tip disappeared into the dome, but it hadn't gone pass through the dome of earth completely

Omoi didn't remove his blade until the dome of earth crumbled around it, showing that his sword had, just like he had wanted to, pierce right at his opponent's chest. It hadn't gone that deep though, but since Omoi's katana was quite long it had definitely pierced him

Naruto was stricken with confusion once again when, as soon as the medic nin got the Kusa nin out who apparently was still alive, Omoi turned back to his nervous version, muttering things about a war between Kumo and Kusa and other stuff that Naruto didn't know what to believe about

His opinion of the Kumo group became even more confused once that Omoi's sensei actually started to sing high enough for everyone to hear, and to say that his raps were bad would be an understatement. At least that red-headed girl, Karui, managed to shut him up with a slap on the back of his head, something that everyone there was definitely glad for

Well, everyone except Lee and Guy, who apparently liked the damn music

"Weirdoes" said Menma after watching the whole scene, and almost everyone around him nodded to his words, while Naruto just thought that the guy's attitude must have been some type of mask in order to make your enemies underestimate you

After all no one could just rap like that bad without trying…

Right?

Only after that was that Yugao returned to where the rest of her team and the other team were, and as soon as she did she was greeted by Anko

"Yu-chan, you missed your favorite kind of fight!" said Anko, getting a frown from the purple-haired beauty, who looked then at Kurenai for confirmation, who nodded at her with a slight smile, knowing how much her friend liked her swords

Yugao's shoulder sagged and she looked down after releasing a sigh, but Anko gave her a half-hug before saying "Don't worry, I'm sure that once Mito-chan fights you will see a good performance, right Mito-chan?!" the last part was directed at the red-headed girl, who blushed a little bit at becoming the center of attention of the group just before she nodded with a smile, getting another smile in return from Yugao, who had already been told about Mito's skills with the blade

Then the screen that had chosen the previous fights once again flared to life, picking two other Genins randomly once again, only that this time it did stop into a pair that Naruto knew

Both Haruno Sakura and Kurama Yakumo were definitely a little nervous about their fight, but now that they knew they would be facing each other they didn't know how to feel about that.

Both girls, after being called by Itachi, went down to the middle of the ring, Sakura getting some last minute words from her team, specially from her friend Ino, and Yakumo a more subdued encouragement from her team, which was not surprise considering that Shino and Hinata were not the most talkative people, but Naruto also managed to feel some sort of tension between Yakumo and one of her senseis, Kurenai. Yakumo also got some words of encouragement from Mito, who patted her friend on the back when she passed by her

Naruto honestly didn't know what to expect from this fight, after all he was all but close to both girls. The only thing he truly remember about them was that their skills in the academy weren't the best, but then again his weren't that much better even if he did that on purpose, and that Yakumo was friends with Mito while Sakura had some sort of friendship/rivalry with her teammate Ino, so Naruto had an open mind since the moment the fight started

Sadly after seeing the fight Naruto could only say that both girls had a lot of room for improvement, but besides that there wasn't really that much he could say, after all both girls hast started to apparently use Genjutsu at the start of the fight

And then Sakura had just gone unconscious out of a sudden, which shocked the Konoha Genins, after all they had no idea of what had happened, and no one from Yakumo's team wanted to explain it to them, leaving them confused

Naruto decided that he would have to investigate this girl, Yakumo, after the preliminars, after all apparently there was something else on her Genjutsu if she managed to knock Sakura that easily. Yakumo might become an opponent in the third part of the Exams, and Naruto knew that having information about your opponents was something that could easily give you the advantage

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile another group of more powerful nin were having their own conversation_

"That pink haired girl, Haruno, would be a good member of your program, Tsunade" said Orochimaru so his old teammate, getting a raised eyebrow from the Senju

"Really? She doesn't seem that much" was Tsunade's answer, who was not impressed by the girl's skills so far

"Maybe not, but her chakra controls was one of the best from her graduation group. She could be a good medic-nin" continued the snake summoner, getting a nod from Tsunade. She would have to ask the girl's sensei more about her; after all if her teammate thought she was worthy then she might more than she thought

"Well it looks like the seal is still intact, Minato" spoke Jiraiya to his student, who was sitting in the middle of all of them, with his wife by his right, Orochimaru and Tsunade on his left and Jiraiya just behind him

Normally the three Sanins would not attend something like this, but Orochimaru was forced since he was the proctor for the first task and he also wanted to keep an eye on certain blonde, while Jiraiya also wanted to see the strength of some of the Genin there

More specifically, those that were related to his student

Kushina for her part had almost begged Minato to let her come since she wanted to watch and make sure that her children were ok, and Minato could not say no to his wife, who of course practically dragged Tsunade with her while Shizune stayed in their house to babysit Natsumi, who had told them that she didn't need a babysitter since she was already an Academy student

Although the fact that she had said that with a childish pout didn't help her case

"Yes, I was afraid that it would have weakened by now, but it seems to still hold up just fine" said the Hokage, who of course knew about which seal his sensei was talking about. Said seal was one that kept Yakumo's dark personality known as Ido on bay so that it couldn't harm not only Yakumo herself, but also anyone that was close to her

For her part Kushina's attention was completely focused on her children, but more specifically on Naruto. Not even once had her eldest child looked up to neither her on Minato, which had just brought more pain to the former Jinchuriki's heart, but right now she could only hope that none of her children would get harmed in this preliminary sesion

Both she and Minato were already planning in what to teach their children if they passed to the finals, Naruto included of course. They just hoped that, even with the animosity that he felt towards them, that the promise of training would be enough as a start to mend their broken relationship

"It looks like the next fight had been decided" commented Orochimaru, getting everyone's focus to go to the board that had now reveals the fighters for the sixth battle

"The next fight shall be between Uzumaki-Namikaze Menma and Sai" announced Itachi, getting an exited grin from Menma, who was fast to go down to the field, and a nod from Sai, who came down a lot more calmly with his normal fake smile on his face

"Orochimaru, that kid is…" asked Jiraiya to his teammate, recognizing the opponent of his Godsons. He was not the only one though since both Minato and Tsunade knew who he was

"Yes… Sai, the only survivor of the ROOT massacre" confirmed Orochimaru, getting nods of confirmation from all of the S-rank nins, with the exeption of Kushina who had a confused look on her face

"What are you talking about?" asked the red-head, who didn't know the details about Sai's situation

"Kushina-chan, I'll explain it to you later, but this is not the place to discuss something like that" at this Minato sent a sharp look at both Sannins, getting a chuckle from Jiraiya and a shrug from Orochimaru, who was actually relieved of not having to talk about that day

It brought a lot of unnecessary memories to the snake summoner

Kushina nodded, but the look on her face promised that this discussion was far from over, and Minato found himself thinking about his son's opponent for a moment.

He was, as far as Minato knew, the last member of the former organization known as ROOT, which was leaded by one Shimura Danzo many years ago. He had been found eight years ago in one of ROOT's base once that Minato had decided to pay a surprise visit to Danzo in order to put some limits to the amount of control that the man had, but when Minato, alongside with Jiraiya and the former Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, arrived the only think that they had found were the corpses of not only almost all the members of ROOT, but also of Danzo himself. The only survivor they managed to find there was young Sai, who had just ended his ROOT training.

Any attempt of interrogating the boy ended with nothing, and the evidence was practically none so until this day Minato still didn't know who had done the killing. To make sure that panic didn't spread Minato had just told to the members of the council that Danzo had died of old age

Minato sent a look at Orochimaru, remembering the other event that had happened that same day. Orochimaru had gone missing for a few days after the body of Danzo was found, and Minato had come to the suspicion that the Sannin had been the one to do the killing and then had abandoned the village, but that idea disappeared as soon as a young man, whose name if Minato remembered well was Kabuto, brought an Orochimaru that looked worse to wear to the hospital

The snake summoner didn't had any physical wounds, but for some reason he had ended up in a coma for a few weeks, and when he finally woke up he had just told everyone that he couldn't remember what had happened very well

Of course Minato didn't bought that, but any attempt of getting information from the Sannin just ended in him getting even more paler, trembling a little bit and then saying he didn't remember. After that day Orochimaru's attitude had changed quite a lot. Not only he started to take a more active role in the village, but he even took a more active role in the training of his apprentices, Anko and Kabuto

"Hajime!" announced Itachi, getting Minato's focus to go to his son's fight. Since he was the Hokage he couldn't show preferable treatment, but just like his wife on his mind he was cheering for his son's victory

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Back with the Genins_

"_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!"**_ Menma started with what had easily become his second favorite technique, and just like he wanted it to happen nine clones appeared just besides him

"Let's do this!" ordered Menma, to which seven of his clones moved directly towards Sai, while other two clones stayed alongside the original Menma, all three of them starting the hand signs of their jutsu

"_**Choju Giga (Super Beast Imitating Drawing)"**_ muttered Sai, using his signature technique. He rapidly painted something on a scroll, confusing the clones that were moving towards him, but that confusion turned into shock once multiple lions made of nothing but ink appeared out of the scroll and attacked the clones, dispelling most of them with a puff.

The lions made of ink would have gone directly to attack the original, but all of them were destroyed when one of the clones that they had attacked exploded, destroying all of the lions that had surrounded the clones .

Sai took this chance to create a big enough bird with his ink. Then he mounted the drawing before it flew, just before a set of _**Suiton: Teppodama (Water Release: Gunshot)**_ landed exactly where he was just standing, courtesy of Menma and his two clones

"_**Futon: Kamikaze (Wind Release: Divine Wind)!**_" having missed his attack didn't stop Menma though, who launched another jutsu. With his technique a pair or tornadoes appeared around Sai, making him barely able to stand still on the bird he had created because of the winds.

However Sai had been able to understand what technique Menma was about to use, so just before that he managed to create a few smaller birds and snakes. The birds managed to flew away safely with the snakes on them just before the tornadoes were created, and now Sai was waiting his moment to counter-attack

But Menma's offensive was yet to be over since both clones moved towards Sai, who was now trapped between the two tornadoes that were spinning around him. Both clones got relatively close to the area in which Sai was before using their own technique

"_**Raiton: Shichu Shibari (Lightning Release: Four Pillar Bind)!**_" both clones summoned four pillars of rock, making them eight, that surrounded Sai completely. Already knowing what was going to happen Sai rapidly escaped the area of the attack using _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_ just before the pillars unleashed their lightning that easily destroyed the bird that Sai had just created

Appearing just behind Menma, Sai tried to slash him with his tanto, however Menma met him with a kunai ready on his hand. Both Konoha nin ended up locked with their weapons clashing each other, but then Menma broke it before trying to cut Sai with his weapon, which was met by Sai's tanto at every attack

Sai managed to get the upper hand and sent a round-house kick towards Menma's face, connecting directly with it and sending the blonde's to the floor. Menma tried to stand up fast but he discovered that he couldn't move, courtesy of Sai's snakes holding his limbs rather tightly

Sai tried to approach Menma, ready to knock out the trapped blond. However he was distracted by Menma's two clones from before that had come to help the original. It wasn't hard for the pale Genin to dispatch both clones with his tanto, but that gave Menma enough time to, in a show of strength or perhaps something else, destroy the snake that was holding his limbs.

Frustrated red eyes met black ones just before the blonde boy went to the offensive again, clapping his hands together before releasing his technique

"_**Futon: Reppusho (Wind Release: Gale Palm)!"**_ the blast of wind blasted Sai out of his foots easily, sending the pale Genin to the ground. Sai managed to skip to a halt just in time to avoid Menma's kick, and with one quick movement of his tanto he slashed at Menma's chest. Sai expected some blood to appear at any moment, but the result of his movement caught him off guard

_Puff_

'Menma' disappeared in a cloud of smoke, making Sai realize he had just defeated a clone, but this realization came to late since as soon as the clone disappeared, from the smoke he left a hand holding a ball made of nothing but chakra impacted directly on Sai's stomach

"_**Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)!" **_ said Menma as soon as his technique reached his opponent, and with one more push from the blonde Sai was send flying directly towards a wall, his body spinning out of control because of the jutsu's effect

Sai's body impacted the wall harshly just before his body felt to the ground, the black-haired young man being in an obvious state of unconsciousness. Menma took a moment to calm himself, his eyes going back to his normal blue just before grinning and giving a thumbs up at where his parents, godfather and godmother were, receiving nods from all of them, Kushina with a smile, Jiraiya with a grin, Tsunade with a poker-face and Minato with a small smile that disappeared as soon as it appeared

"Winner: Uzumaki-Namikaze Menma!" announced Itachi after checking on Sai. The boy would easily recover but that last attack might left him a nasty wound. Another batch of medics quickly took out Sai out of the place, although that didn't stop certain young green wearing Genin to yell that he was going to avenge him

"Did you get anything?" asked Naruto to Sasuki, who had watched all the fight with her Sharingan on. The raven-haired girl nodded at the blonde, but then releases a frustrating sigh since she got practically nothing from Menma's last technique

"And that's how you do it" said Menma to everyone as soon as he got to where the six Jonins and nine Genins were, a smirk present on his face

"Yeah yeah, whatever" said Kiba, a little bit put of by the fact that his friend passed but he didn't

"Did you really have to use Tou-sama's technique? You could have used something else" asked Mito, getting a snort from the blonde

"Please. We both know it so we should just use it! I don't see what the big deal is anyway" said Menma

"I didn't know your Genins knew the Hokage's technique, Kakashi" said Asuma, getting a chuckle from the one-eyed Jonin

"Well it should be normal for them to know it, right? After all Minato-sensei is their father" answered Kakashi like it was the most obvious thing in the world

"Well, not _all_ of us know that technique, right, _Naruto_?" Menma's comment was directed at the blonde, and it was an obvious attempt at cheap shot at his sibling

This got more than one person's attention since they didn't know abou Naruto's situation

For his part the blonde was half tempted to create something resembling the _**Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere) **_using either his _**Yami no Maho (Dark Magic) **_or even his _**Kaminari no Metsuryu Maho (Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic)**_ just to shut up the blonde idiot that was his former brother. He knew it wouldn't be the same, but he was confident that he would be able to create something that looked close enough to fool them, but he quickly shut that idea down, not wanting to act like a stupid kid, so he simply looked towards Menma with the most boring look he could muster and decided to take a page from one of his Jonin senseis

"I'm sorry Menma, did you say something? My minds tends to turn off when stupid people talk" said Naruto, getting some snickers from his fellow Genins, a smirk from Sasuki and Anko, a chuckle from Kakashi, who was just about to reprimand Menma, and a growl from Menma himself

"You little piece of s-HMM!" Menma's full words were muffled by Kakashi who had put a hand over the blonde's mouth and was even holding him, apparently trying to stop him from lunging at Naruto while Mito shook her head sadly, not liking to see her brothers fighting like that and Anko punched Menma right on the head, silencing the blonde

The situation would have probably continued, but everyone's attention went back to the screen that was once again going over the remaining Genins in order to choose the next fight, and once it stopped Naruto thought that it was one hell of a joke

"The next fight shall be between Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto and Rock Lee" announced Itachi, and this fight got more than one people attention

Kurotsuchi for her part just hoped that whoever was going against Naruto would crush the blonde. The only thing she regretted was not being able to do it on her own

The Genins from Kumo all got their gaze fixed on Naruto, wanting to truly see what he was capable off. Not only that but their sensei too, one Killer Bee, also got his attention on Naruto

"YOSH!" with an exited yell Lee jumped down to the field and started a serious of warm-ups. For his part Naruto simply walked normally towards the stairs leading down, but he was stopped by someone tugging on the sleeve of his jacket, and when he turned he ended up face to face with none other than Mito

"Nii-san, that guy, Rock Lee, he focuses on taijutsu more than anything. He's quite fast too, that's how he defeated Menma before" Mito informed to Naruto, and for a moment the blonde actually thought of just yanking his arm and leave, but there was no reason to cause a scene. Besides Mito's advice could be useful, and while that fixed nothing between them it was at least still appreciated enough by the blonde so Naruto just nodded at her before going down, more than ready to face his opponent

"You could have wish him good luck or something" muttered Shikamaru to Sasuki, to which the young girl simply smirked

"Please. He doesn't need any of that, in fact I feel sorry about that Lee guy. He's going to lose no matter what" replied Sasuki, showing her utmost confidence in Naruto's skill

"Really? But he wasn't that big of a deal in the academy! I mean, I'm not sayins he's weak or anything but still…" said a confused Ino to which Sasuki simply shook her head

"You know anything about him so just sit and watch, you might learn something" Sasuki's comeback made Ino pout, but she decided that it was better to not push the raven-haired girl too much, after all everyone from her graduation group knew about her temper.

Mito found herself nodding to Sasuki's words. She didn't know exactly how strong her Nii-san was, but anyone that managed to survive a fight against someone like Momochi Zabuza was definitely strong

Menma just scoffed, thinking that just like him Naruto was going to be defeated easily by that weird Lee guy he had faced before

"Kakashi, my rival! It looks like even our student will face themselves!" said a loud voice, which was owned by none other than Rock Lee's sensei, Might Guy, who had decided to join the group of Konoha's team alongside what was left of his team, which was only Hyuga Neji since both Tenten and Sai were taken away and the other sensei of the team, one Geko Hayate, was checking them.

"Hmm? I guess" answered back Kakashi, his attention once again on his favorite book, although it was plainly obvious for some that he still had an eye for the fight

"How good do you think Naruto-san will do? I mean for what I understand he was barely above average in the academy, and we all know how Guy can be when training his students so I'm sure that Lee is no pushover" told Genma to his other fellow Jonin, completely ignoring the conversation between Kakashi and Guy

"Please. Naruto-kun will clean the floor easily with his opponent!" said Anko with completely confidence on her student

"Oh? Too much confidence in your student don't you think, Anko?" said Asuma

"Want to bet on it?" with a grin Anko proposed her idea, and Asuma and Genma shared a look just before accepting, thinking that Rock Lee would have the advantage, while Kurenai just released a sigh and Yugao giggled a little bit

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, with the Hokage_

"This will be interesting enough" muttered Orochimaru, his snake-like eyes focused on no one but Naruto. Just behind him Jiraiya nodded, his normal goofy looks replaced by a mask of seriousness, after all this would truly be the first time he saw his Godson fight. It was important for the toad summoner to watch the fight carefully since this would be a good way to know what Naruto needed to learn on the future, since he was already planning to help training him as soon as he got the chance

For her part as soon as Tsunade's eyes landed on Naruto a flicker of pain and sorrow appeared on her gaze, but was disappeared so fast that no one managed to notice it. Just like before Tsunade's expression became one of someone that was hiding her hand perfectly

Kushina was practically on the end of her seat, her violet eyes looking directly at Naruto with no little amount of worryness. It was normal for the red-headed woman to have that look every time she thought of her eldest son's strength. According to what Orochimaru had told them Naruto was hiding his strength on the Academy, but Kushina couldn't truly now if that was true, so she always thought of the worst outcome: Her son getting injured, or even worse killed, just because she never took the time to properly train him in anything

The remorse of her actions was truly killing her on the inside

Minato was on a similar boat, but unlike her wife he found himself having faith in his son. He didn't know why, but his instinct were telling him that Naruto was a lot more than what he looks like

Naruto might have refused to training before, but without caring for the result of this fight Minato was more than ready to put his foot down. At this point he didn't care if his son would hate him even more, he just wanted to make sure that he would be able to take care of himself, and for that he needed training, and who better than the Hokage and a group of S-rank nin for that?

In another place certain dark lord sneezed

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Naruto_

"Let's do our best, Naruto-kun!" said Lee, who had just finished stretching, to his blonde opponent

"Of course, Lee-san" Naruto replied just before entering on his fighting instance, something that Lee emulated, both Genin's expression settled on nothing but seriousness

"Hajime!" announced Itachi, and unknown to both fighters this time the elder Uchiha had his Sharingan activated, and just like many others his attention was on no one but Naruto.

As soon as Itachi announced the beginning of the fight, Lee wasted no time in dashing against Naruto, moving at a speed that left a lot of the Genins wide-eyed.

"_**Dainamikku Entori (Dinamic Entry)**_!" Lee high jump kick was aimed directly at Naruto's head, but the blonde blocked it easily using his arms as a shield. Realizing that his attack had failed Lee quickly aimed another kick at mid air directly to Naruto's face, but the blonde moved back in time to avoid the attack

Lee touched the ground and without a second thought he went once again at the offensive, this time with a sweeping kick to Naruto's leg, but the blonde moved faster and managed to avoid the attack by jumping out of its reach

Lee continued with his assault though, this time with a punch aimed at Naruto's stomach, however Naruto once again dodged the attack. Using his momentum Lee threw a right rook towards Naruto, but the blonde managed to block it by using his forearm, and before Lee realized Naruto's fist had impacted the bushy eye browed Genin

Lee was sent back a little bit by the force of the punch, but he quickly recovered just in time to see Naruto just standing there, looking at him with his cold dark blue-eyes. For that moment Lee thought that he was messing with a truly great opponent, but his normal enthusiasm just pushed him even more to defeat Naruto

Once again Lee moved towards Naruto, but just when he was about to reach the blonde Naruto _disappeared_ in front of his eyes, catching the Taijutsu specialist by surprise. He wasn't able to react fast enough to avoid the kick that Naruto aimed at his back, which one again sent the Genins to the opposite of his opponent

'That was just pure speed!' thought Lee, easily recognizing someone that moved at a speed so high that it was hard to follow, after all he had been training with someone that did the same every time.

Deciding to take it up a notch Lee put as much chakra as he could on his legs, ready to dash towards Naruto, but just when he was about to move Naruto made the first movement, easily closing the distance between the two of them and punching Lee straight on the face with a lightning covered fist that made more than once person widen their eyes

Lee once again was sent towards the other side of the field only that this time he hit the ground quite hard, but he quickly stood up, not wanting to let any other hits to reach him

"I hope you can do better than that, Lee-san, otherwise this might end too quickly" said Naruto, knowing that Lee was probably holding back something, after all he had quickly realized that Lee's movement looked… hindered by something, but what he had no clue

"Then I better stop holding back, Naruto-kun!" and with a lot of fire on his eyes Lee quickly dashed to the opposite side of the arena and quickly walked over the wall until he managed to stand on the statue that this place had, which was just in front of where the Hokage and the other guest were

Catching his senseis eyes and receiving a nod Lee quickly took a pair of weights that were on his legs and tossed them aside, resulting in a big impact as soon as the weights touched the ground, getting a lot of surprised and shocked gestures from everyone looking at the fight

While many opponents would have felt overwhelmed by what he had just observed, Naruto simply smirked a little bit, knowing that now Lee would be an even greater opponent. Naruto honestly didn't know from where had this sudden feeling of excitement that he got by fighting someone like Rock Lee, but he guessed that it was a side-effect of being a dragon slayer since that was what his sensei had told him

Moving a lot faster than before Lee started his new assault with an axe-kick just when he reached Naruto, to which the blonde blocked by crossing his arms over his head. The impact of the attack though created small crated where Naruto was standing, and the blonde winced a little bit in pain since this was the second time he had blocked a strong kick like that from Lee of all people

The hand-to-hand combat started once again, with Lee doing his best to land a hit on Naruto, but sadly for him the blonde was able to dodge, block or counter every one of his moves. Not only that but every hit that Naruto landed was charged with electricity, and little by little Lee could feel his limbs going numb by the repeated treatment of the element

Deciding to see if he could end this with one movement Naruto kicked Lee on his chest, sending him back and creating a distance between them that Naruto quickly widened by moving backwards. Just like he had predicted Lee dashed towards him at a slower pace than before, but Naruto was already making his move

He didn't know if doing this was right or not. He had wanted to hold back on this fight, but as soon as the fight itself had started he just found himself not _caring_ about the repercussions of showing his magic like that. He knew that it would probably raise a lot of question, but to put it simple right now he just didn't give a crap about it

"_**Rairyū Hōtengeki**__** (Lighting Dragon's Heavenward Halberd)**_!" from his right hand a spear made of nothing but blue lightning was created, and with one swift movement Naruto threw the attack on Lee's way, his intention more than obvious

Lee was barely able to get out of the spell's way, but he could have sworn that it had scratched his arm. The powerful lightning spell continued its course, leaving scorch marks and destroying the path it had followed until it finally impacted the wall with a big explosion of sparks, leaving a big crater in there

"Dammit" cursed Naruto, not liking the fact that his attack had just missed his intended target. Of course he was so focused on the fight that he didn't notice the expressions of everyone looking at the fight

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With the Genins and Jonins_

"Kakashi… what the hell have you been teaching your students?!" asked a bewildered Asuma, guessing that since Naruto's last attack looked like a _**Raiton (Lightning Release)**_ technique it should have been Kakashi the one that thought him

"Believe me Asuma, I'm as shocked as you are" Kakashi couldn't mask his complete surprise at Naruto's last movement

Every single Jonin and Genin, with the exception of Sasuki and to a lesser degree Mito and Anko, has been completely shocked at Naruto's speed and strength. No one was more surprised than Guy and Neji, who of course knew that someone that could keep up and even surpass Lee in those terms was someone to keep an eye on

It became worse when Naruto's attack started to be cloaked in lightning, something that most of the people there have never seen or even thought of possible. On the other side of the arena certain Jinchuriki looked at the blonde with a new light, after all those punches and kicks covered in lightning looked awfully similar to his kage's signature technique

But then Naruto's last movement made everyone even more shocked than before since not only Naruto had done it without using hand-seals, but the destructive power of the technique was impressive to say the least

Not only that but, not even the Nins from Kumo had ever watched a _**Raiton (Lightning Release)**_ like that

'I guess sensei was correct, Naruto-kun has truly been holding back his strength' thought Kakashi, his focus now on nothing but the fight to the point that he had actually taken his Sharingan out

'Nii-san, is this your true strength?' wondered Mito, looking at Naruto like he was the center of her universe

'What the hell? Since when did the looser have those moves?! Is this what Alcor was warning me about?!' thought Menma, not knowing what to make of Naruto's show of strength

'I knew he was troublesome, but still this is way too much' thought certain Nara, trying to fix the puzzle that was his blonde friend

'Naruto-kun is so cool! I think I might be in love!" thought certain blonde Yamanaka, definitely liking what she was watching

'Naruto-kun, I know you can do it' thought one Hyuga Hinata, silently cheering for her crush to win

'It looks like the strongest enemy might have revealed himself' analyzed Shino

'Mito-chan never told us that her brother was _this_ strong!' those were the thoughts of certain Kurama heiress

'Since when can he do that?!' complete confusion showed on Kiba's mind

'What will you do now, Lee?' wondered Neji, looking at both Naruto and Lee with interest

'Naruto… I knew you were strong but… just how strong are you? I got even less from that last attack that from Menma's technique!' wondered Sasuki, her Sharingan activated, not knowing that to make of her friend's skills

'Good, at least when I defeat him he will at least put up a good enough challenge' Thought Kurotsuchi, not fazed at all by the blonde's show of skill

'I knew you were more than met the eyes, Naruto-kun' thought Temari, her interest on the blonde becoming even greater than before

'Glad that's not me fightning against the blonde there' thought a relieved Kankuro

'Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto… Yes, your blood shall prove my existence once the times come' Gaara's thought on the other hand were a lot more gruesome

'Yes, definitely more than just cool' Samui reaffirmed her early thought about the blonde

'I knew it!' thought Omoi, not knowing if to cheer since he was right, or to feel bad about it

'Crap basket, is everyone here in Konoha like that or what?!' Karui was raging on her mind

They were not the only ones with thoughts on their minds though

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With the Hokage_

"Minato… what the hell was that?" Jiraiya went straight to the chase by asking his student about his son's skills, after all never on his life he had seen a jutsu like that, specially from a Genin!

"I… I'm as lost as you, sensei" replied Minato, completely shocked by what he had just watched

Kushina was on the same boat, not knowing how to feel about what she had just watched. For one part it meant that her son could probably take care of himself easily, but the fact that he did it without any help of his family just made her even sadder

"I know you probably don't want to hear this right now, but I told you so" said Orochimaru to Minato, getting a sharp glare from the blonde that the snake summoner just shrugged off, knowing that he was right when he had told the parents of the blonde Genins that he had been hiding his true strength on the Academy

Tsunade was of course just as shocked as her teammates. She had never seen a technique like that, and she definitely didn't know how Naruto had learned it

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Back with Naruto and Lee_

"_**Hachimon Tonkō: Kaimon: Kai (Eight Gates Release: Gate of Opening: Open)**_!" already realizing that his opponent was more strong that he thought, Lee decided to use his trump card. Lee could easily feel his strength increasing just by the release of the first gate, and Naruto, knowing that his opponent was preparing something quickly put his guard back up

"_**Hachimon Tonkō: Kyūmon: Kai (Eight Gates Release: Gate of Healing: Open)**_!" Lee was not done yet though, since he had decided to open the second gate in order to recover his lost energy

Then Lee practically disappeared out of everyone's views, surprising everyone including Naruto, who was caught off guard by his opponent sudden increase in speed. So was the surprise that Naruto wasn't able to dodge or block the high kick aimed at his chin, courtesy of Lee, which sent him flying through the air

Lee continued his assault by quickly using his _**Kage Buyō (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf)**_ to position himself just behind Naruto. Then just before the blonde could react Lee's bandages were wrapped around him just before both him and Lee started spinning and moving directly towards the ground

"_**Omote Renge (Front Lotus)**_!" said Lee while spinning, his intention to strike Naruto against the ground. Trying to escape the attack Naruto quickly release blue electricity from all of his body, encasing both him and Lee in nothing but lightning

"AHHHHH!" Lee was of course damaged by this sudden movement unlike Naruto, but in a show of nothing but will Lee didn't let his technique to falter and managed to use it completely, moving out of the way just before Naruto impacted into the ground directly at a great speed

Definitely exhausted, and of course hurt by Naruto's last attack Lee was now panting on the ground, barely able to stand up. He still felt proud of himself though, since he had been able to defeat his opponent, even if he had to use a technique that his sensei had told him not to use like that

It was not over though

"_**Rairyu no Hōkō (Lighting Dragon's Roar)**_!" from the cloud of smoke that Lee's attack had lifted a big beam of blue lightning appeared, moving directly towards Lee. Sadly for him the bushy eye-browed Genin was too tired and too late to move out of the way, which made the spell hit him directly, making the young man to scream in agony before falling on his back, smoke coming out of his body

'Dammit, to let him get me like that… shouldn't have made that mistake' slowly Naruto's form became visible through the smoke, and it was obvious he had been damaged by Lee's attack. His clothes were ripped; he could feel the taste of blood on his mouth and the multiples bruises on his body. Still he was able to stand up, even though his whole body was in pain, and he had took advantage of the smoke to launch an attack at Lee which had obviously worked

For a moment Naruto thought that he had already won, but he found out that underestimating someone like Rock Lee was definitely a big no-no. Ever so slowly and filled with grunts of pain Lee managed to stand up once again, his legs shacking and he looked like he would pass out at any time

'He can still continue?!' thought Naruto, not knowing if to feel annoyed by his opponent resistance or to admire him for it, so he settled for both.

The green-wearing Genin turned to face his opponent, his face hidden by the shadow of his hair. Then he put his arms in front of him like an X before using his last trump card

"_**Hachimon Tonkō: Seimon: Kai (Eight Gates Release: Gate of Life: Open)**_!" Lee's skin turned red, and Naruto could even see the energy of his opponent swirling around him. Naruto could easily figure out that this was another way for Lee to increase his power, and while the most logical part of his told him to strike him now, the other part of him, the part that wanted to fight Lee at his full power, told him to wait and see

And so he did

"_**Hachimon Tonkō: Shōmon: Kai (Eight Gates Release: Gate of Pain: Open)**_!" even more chakra started to swirl around Rock Lee, and Naruto found himself smirking just before putting up his fighting stance

"_**Hachimon Tonkō: Tomon: Kai (Eight Gates Release: Gate of Limit: Open)**_!" the ground just below Lee started to crack, and faster than any Genin could even see Lee moved towards Naruto

The blonde too disappeared in a show of speed, ready to face his opponent, and just at that moment something in Naruto's eyes happened that only Itachi was able to see: They became golden yellow just before going back to his normal dark blue

In multiples areas of the arena shockwaves of power appeared, causes by the constant struggle between Naruto and Lee. Almost every Genin was now failing at keeping up with their speed, with a few exceptions like Gaara and Sasuki, but the last, even with her Sharingan, was barely able to keep up properly

The Jonins for their part were able to look the fight, and to say they were impressed would be an understatement. No Genin should move at that speed, and they didn't know what was more impressive: If the fact that Lee was able to open 5 gates or that Naruto was able to keep up with him like that

The Hokage, his wife and the Sannin were on the same boat, with a all of them completely shocked by Naruto's natural skills.

Both Lee and Naruto moved equally. Every fist met fist, every kick met another leg. Every impressive show of Taijutsu met its proper counter and so on. It was a fiery show of power and will that left more than once people there speechless

Of course in the end one of them had to concede defeat, and it happened when both Naruto and Lee threw their attacks at the same time. Sadly for Lee his punch failed when Naruto moved his head barely enough avoid the attack, but Lee wasn't able to do the same, and his face met the lightning powered punch of Naruto's fist

With a crunch, with meant that _something_ had broke, Lee was sent flying to the other side of the arena until his body hit the wall, leaving another little crater there. Then Lee's body felt to the ground face first.

Naruto stood at the center of what had become his battlefield, his eyes closed. He was doing his best to calm himself down since the fight had been a lot harder that he thought it would be. Sure, he had won against Zabuza, but he and Lee were completely different opponents. Against Zabuza Naruto had managed to use his strongest point, which was his speed, to fight on pair against the Jonin, but Lee was someone that forced him to stay on his guard even more, and it was Lee's speed the factor that allow him to damage Naruto the way he did. Not only that but he hadn't used his _**Yami no Maho (Dark Magic)**_, after all while he could cover up somewhat his other magic by saying that it was **_Raiton (Lightning Release)_** techniques, he couldn't do the same with his _**Yami no Maho (Dark Magic).**_

When he opened his eyes he focused his gaze on Lee, already knowing that the bowl-haired Genin could surprise him once again, but Lee made no movement for a few seconds

Then Itachi moved towards Lee in order to check on him, and the words that came from his mouth easily made the fight worth it in Naruto's opinion

"Winner: Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto!"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Well that was another long chapter. Honestly I tell myself "This chapter won't be longer than 8K" and then THIS happens… oh well!**

**A lot of fights on this one. Fights are truly not my strong suit so I don't really know if I did it good enough, but for now this is was I managed to cook**

**Now some of you have probably been wondering about our favorite bastard, Danzo. And yes, just like this chapter revealed, Danzo **_**is**_** dead on this fic. How he died? That will be for a future chapter, which will also explain Orochimaru's fear to you know who (No, no Voldermort... That would be an interesting plot twist though). Some of you might complain about me killing Danzo too early but hear me out. This fic already has way too many bad guys/villains, so for me to be able to keep it balanced enough I had to cut someone. In fact I almost kill Orochimaru too, but I decided that that would be too much of a waste.**

**Itachi is on this chapter too. Some of you had wanted more of the Uchiha, so don't worry, he'll have his time**

**Now I want to let something clear. Not because certain character shows interest in another it means automatically that they will be a pairing. Who knows? I might make a character to fall hopelessly in love with Naruto just for the blonde to not accept her feelings, or I might put Ino in the harem just to kill her off two chapters later… highly unlikely that last one, but you guys get the point**

**Of course thanks to everyone that read, followed, favorite or reviewed this fic**

**Next Chapter: The Training Month!**


	15. A Month of Opportunities

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

"Acnologia"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**Chapter 13**

**A Month of Opportunities**

_Forest of Death's Tower, Medical area_

"I already say that I'm fine" said the blonde known as Naruto, doing his best to hide the annoyance he felt at the medic-nin that was checking on him

Just after his victory against Rock Lee, Naruto had practically been forced by both his senseis to go to the infirmary that was in the tower in order to get his wounds checked; after all he had suffered through the destructive _**Omote Renge (Front Lotus) **_that Lee used on him

He had tried to tell them that he was fine and that he would prefer to just stay and watch the rest of the fights, but both Kakashi and Anko had none of that, and Anko had practically dragged him here, a small room with many hospital beds and few personal.

There were a few of the beds that were occupied by some Genins like Sakura, Chouji, that guy that had fought against Omoi and even one with Lee himself. That last one had a lot of people there, all of them apparently working over the bushy eye-browed nin

Naruto had no time to even wonder about Lee's condition since as soon as he had entered the place he had been practically shoved to a bed by Anko and then some guy with white hair and glasses, whose name was Kabuto started to do some checkups on him

The problem was that, in Naruto's opinion, Kabuto was doing a lot of unnecessary stuff, like getting blood samples, checking on his reflex and even asking way too many personal questions that Naruto refused to answer, and every time he complained both Kabuto and Anko would answer the same thing at the same time

"Who's the professional here?"

Honestly it was a true test of his patience, but more than once he felt like just saying "fuck it" and leaving the place.

In the end he simply got some bandages on his torso. Luckily there wasn't any broken bone, which according to Kabuto was nothing short of a miracle

Naruto could have lived without Anko's comments though, after all when Kabuto put the bandaged on him he had to take his clothes off, and to say that Anko had make some pretty weird comments that could be considered sexual harassment would be an understatement

"Yes yes, I already heard you the first time Naruto-kun. Don't worry, you're almost ready to go" answered the man known as Yahushi Kabuto while writing something on a piece of paper that Naruto guessed contained medical information about him

For her part Anko had already left, and Naruto was starting to worry about the fact that he would miss all the other fights; after all he had been here for a while. Other passed out Genins had been brought here, but none of them was someone that Naruto recognized

The real problem was that one of those Genins was nothing but a corpse. Naruto didn't know the details, but apparently one of the fights had ended with a dead opponent

"There, you can live already, Naruto-kun. You should go back to check the rest of the fights, and if you feel any source of pain please do make sure to come back to check on that" said Kabuto, to which Naruto just nodded before putting his jacket and leaving the room, wanting to go fast to see if he caught some of the remaining fights

Sadly something, or rather someone stopped him as soon as he left the room. Just standing there on the hallway that connected both the main arena with the infirmary area was none other than one Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina

The violet-eyes Kunoichi had came here shortly after the last member of her family, her daughter Mito, had ended her fight. Her intentions were quite obvious for anyone, she just wanted to check on her son, after all while he might have won he might had gotten hurt, and Kushina had found herself worry beyond believe about him

As soon as she saw Naruto her motherly instincts, which had practically been suppressed towards Naruto for ten years, acted and the first thing she wanted to do was to go towards him and make sure he was as healthy as he could be

"Naru-chan" said the red-head before moving towards her son, but sadly for her just like any time she tried to get close to Naruto the blonde gave a few steps back, wanting to make sure there was good enough distance between him and his former mother

The hurt that Kushina was feeling by seeing her son's actions was plainly obvious, however Naruto truly couldn't care less, so he just greeted her with a cold look that showed no emotions, something that troubled Kushina even more

"Uzumaki-san" said Naruto with a nod, his voice as emotionless as his expression, which of course mortified Kushina even more

The red-headed woman would have definitely preferred for her son to be angry. For him to hate her. For him to yell, scream, rant or even insult her. She would have preferred if he at least glared at her! She could so with angriness because it meant that they could still fix things up, but Kushina couldn't stand the complete emotionless look that her son was giving to her

After all people always said that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference.

Naruto for his part was now cursing his luck. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? They had done so for fifteen years already, so what changed? Before Naruto was sure that he would have jumped in joy if he received _any_ kind of acknowledge from this woman, but now? He didn't want her. He didn't _need_ her. She stopped being his family a long time ago. His only family was Zeref and he was sure that nothing this woman would do or say would ever make him change his mind

"H-how are you?" asked Kushina almost shyly, deciding to take a different approach by going with baby steps. It would probably be painfully slow, but as long as she managed to fix her relationship with her son then she would wait as much as it take

"As good as I can be" Naruto's answer was as vague as possible, and he honestly wanted more than to end this little conversation for two reasons. First he really didn't want to talk with this woman if he had the chance of not doing it, and second he just didn't want to lose more time here

"You showed a lot of incredible skills in your fight" continued Kushina, trying to see if she could get into a conversation with her son that didn't end after one comment. Not only that but she was honestly curious about her son's skills, after all she now couldn't deny the fact that he must have hid his real strength in the Academy, but how did he get so strong? While training alone was a possibility, someone training her son had more logic, but who?

"I guess" once again Naruto cut the conversation before it even started, making the former Jinchuriki to frown at his. For his part Naruto was already annoyed, and this little chat wasn't helping, so deciding that this was just a waste of time he was more than ready to leave by using the _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_

Kushina, easily figuring out what Naruto was about to do since every self-respected Jonin knew the hand-sing for that technique, almost entered in panic; after all she didn't want to lose this change to speak with her son

"Wait!" Kushina's voice was quite loud that it actually managed to stop Naruto on his tracks

"What is it?" asked the blonde, really wanting to end this conversation already

"Y-you see, Mito-chan also won her fight" said Kushina, kicking herself mentally for stuttering "and we, I mean our family, were planning a little celebration today"

"Good for you, but what does that has to do with me?" replied back Naruto, making Kushina to look at him sadness, something that the blonde didn't like at all

"Naru-chan, you _are_ part of our family! Please don't think that you aren't. I know that we made a lot of mistakes, but please don't think that we don't love you, Naru-chan. We love you. I love you" said Kushina softly, looking at her son with a combination of both sadness and love. She truly meant what she said. She didn't know _why_ she had been such a terrible mother to Naruto, but she loved him, there was no doubt on her mind and heart about that, and she had decided that she would do anything on her power to prove it to her son

Naruto just looked at her, his still as cold as the iciest tundra. Naruto remembered that years ago he would have done _anything_ to hear those words from this woman. To hear her say that she loved him would have been truly the happiest moment of his childhood, but now? Now it was different. He had moved on. He wouldn't go around playing at his former family's tune. They couldn't just decided _when_ to love him, _when_ to care about him, that was not how it worked.

Besides he already had someone that was there for him when everyone else had abandoned him. Zeref had been the one to truly care for him, to see him as someone that wasn't worthless. Naruto practically owed him everything, and there was no way he would ever replace him with the family that never cared about him in the first place

The blonde turned around, giving his back to the red-head before speaking "That's where you're wrong, Uzumaki-san. I _have_ a family…. But yours is not part of it" and without checking her reaction Naruto used the _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) **_to leave the place, his destination the arena of this place

Kushina had tried to stop him but he already left, leaving a dejected Kushina, who released a sad sigh while looking at the ground with a hand on her heart, which right now felt like someone had stabbed it with a rusty knife

She knew that fixing things was going to be hard, but it still made her experience a lot of pain. She was about to leave and think on another way to approach her son, but then Naruto's last words resounded on her head

'He has a family?' thought Kushina, not knowing that to make out of that statement. What did he meant by that? He had a family? Who? Was it the same person, or group of person, that trained him?

Too many question were now filling Kushina's head, and she knew that she had to tell her husband as soon as she could

Kushina left the place, another thought entering her mind. She didn't know who Naruto's _family_ was, but it didn't matter. In her opinion there couldn't be a better family for him than his _real_ family

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Naruto_

Out of nowhere Naruto appeared on the railings in which the multiple Genins and Jonins were watching the fights of the preliminary rounds

No one had apparently noticed his arriving, which was to be expected since he appeared quite a distance from where all the other groups were. The blonde would have moved towards the group in which all of the Konoha shinobi were, however his attention went directly to the current fight.

The fight in question was between none other than two members of the Hyuga clan, one was Hinata, which Naruto easely recognized, and the other one was that guy from Lee's team.

Both of them were using the Hyuga's fightning style, which consisted in the use of their Byakugan to effectively use their _**Juken (Gentle Fist)**_. It was plainly obvious to Naruto that Neji had the complete advantage on the fight, after all while Hinata actually manage to land a few hits here and there, Neji easley overpowered the soft-spoken girl, showing that from the two he was the one with obvious superior skill

But the fight itself was not was caught Naruto's attention. No, it was the words said by the eldest Hyuga that truly got the blonde. He was basically calling her worthless, something that struck a nerve in Naruto. For a long time he had felt worthless until Zeref had started training him, and he had never liked when people put down other ones by calling them worthless

It wasn't only his words but the look on Neji's eyes. He was hiding it but Naruto could clearly see the hate on the Hyuga's eyes. Those eyes had so much hate that for a moment Naruto remembered the same hateful look that his shadow had given him months ago

Naruto didn't understand why Neji was feeling like that towards Hinata of all people. Sure, he might not know the girl that much, but even him could easily tell you that Hinata was the exact definition of someone that would never hurt a fly

He at least had to give credit to Hinata for not giving up, even though it was obvious who was winning

The fight reached to an end once that Neji finally landed the final hit on the girl, making her spit some blood. It looked like it would all end just there, but then Hinata say some things that apparently hit a nerve on the other Hyuga, after all his mask of coldness cracked and the sheer amount of hate that appeared on his eyes truly made Naruto remember his shadow

Neji was now beyond pissed. How dared this weakling to talk to him like that?! After everything the main branch of the clan had done to him! On nothing but blind rage Neji moved towards Hinata, his palm aimed at her heart

The Jonins of Konoha at seeing this were just about to react to stop the Hyuga from killing his cousin, however someone beat them to the punch since just before Neji reached Hinata a thick black dome appeared out of nowhere around Hinata, making everyone that was watching the fight to be surprised by the sudden apparition

Neji moved backwards, not knowing that this weird dome was, and then ever so slowly the dome broke like it was made of glass, and from the inside two people appeared for everyone to see

One of them was the unconscious form of one Hyuga Hinata, while the other one was none other than Naruto himself, who was now carrying the unconscious Hyuga on his arms like a princess while looking at Neji with a cold expression

Every single individual watching the fight was definitely shocked at Naruto's sudden appearance, not only because he appeared out of nowhere, but also for the strange technique that everyone assumed he had just used

Naruto didn't know why he had acted. It wasn't like it was really his problem in the first place, but he just felt like he _had_ to. For some reason Neji's emotions just reminded Naruto way too much of the dark side of his heart

"Killing your own family… isn't that a little low, Hyuga?" asked Naruto, his eyes looking directly at Neji. He could also feel Hinata's heartbeat, and he was at least glad that the girl at least still alive

"Don't interfere, Namikaze!" said Neji, alternating between glaring at Hinata with obvious amount of hate and at Naruto with both rage and annoyance. Meanwhile all the Jonin from Konoha that were watching the fight were more than ready to act in case something else happened, but right now they didn't move, curious about Naruto's actions

"I'm sorry, but I don't like seeing cold-blooded murder in front of my eyes" replied the blonde

"Move aside! This is between me and that worthless joke of a ninja that you have in your arms!" Neji almost growled his answer, making Naruto to eyes to become even colder at hearing his words

"I don't know what happened between the two of you, and honestly I don't care" said Naruto, his voice deadly cold "You can hate whoever you want, this is after all a free world" then Naruto's voice turned into a whisper only high enough for only him and Neji to hear "but if you think I will let you go around killing anyone just because you can't deal with your own hate then you're terribly mistaken there, Hyuga"

"Don't talk as if you knew everything, Namikaze!" this time Neji's voice did sound like a growl

"Believe me, Hyuga, I know more about hate that you can think off" muttered Naruto only to himself just before his attention went to the group of medic-nin that had appeared, obviously wanting to take Hinata under their care

They easily took her away, and from the corner of his eyes Naruto saw one of her senseis, Kurenai, leaving, probably to go and check on her. As soon as they left Naruto's attention went once again towards Neji, who was still standing at the middle of the arena while glaring at him

Then the blonde moved towards the Hyuga, who's body tensed just in case. The blonde mage kept moving until he was standing just besides him. He then spoke once again in nothing but a whisper that only Neji was able to hear

"You better pray we don't end up facing each other on the next round, or else you might not be able to make it out alive, especially if you come at me with that same expression you have right now"

"It will be you the one to lose, Namikaze. You're not like your siblings. Your fate will always be to be below everyone else" Neji replied back, almost making Naruto snort. Fate? It looked like Neji had more than one issue

Neji then left, moving towards where his sensei was. Naruto turned and looked at him, a sudden thought entering his mind

'Is that what I could have become?' wondered the blonde, once again remembering the meeting with his shadow and Zeref's words about the subject of hate

Naruto would have gone up to where Sasuki and Shikamaru where, already knowing that now he would be at least questioned by his raven-haired friend, but before he could even do that Itachi's voice sounded everywhere

"Could all of the Genins that won their fights come down? We will begin the last part of this preliminars" said Itachi, who then stole a look at Naruto before looking at the Hokage and nodding

Naruto didn't know why, but that look from the Uchiha made him a little nervous. The only other one that could make him nervous with just a look was his sensei, and that was because it felt like the man was looking straight at your soul, like he was reading you like an open book

Naruto stood there, waiting for the other Genins to go down. Then after a few minutes all of the fourteen Genins were now in a straight line, with Sasuki by Naruto's right and Shikamaru by his left

The blonde looked at the group, wanting to know who had won the fights. Like he remembered Sasuki, Menma, Shino, Yakumo, Omoi and Temari where there. The others that were there that Naruto had not been able to watch their fights were the other two Genins from Suna, Gaara and Kankuro, Samui from Kumo, Kurotsuchi from Iwa and from Konoha there was Shikamaru, Mito and Neji

The blonde was definitely surprised by the fact that all of the Suna nins had manage to win their fights. He wasn't surprised about Shikamaru, after all he knew how much of an opponent the lazy Nara could be. Mito wasn't a surprise neither since his former mother had told him that before.

Naruto had to admit that he was curious about both Kurotsuchi and Samui's skills, after all there was a big possibility that he would face them on the next round. It didn't help neither that even now Kurotsuchi was _still_ glaring at him

Then Itachi passed a box to all of the Genins, from which every one took a small piece of paper that had a number on it

"Please tell me your number in order to organize the fights for the last part of the exams" ordered Itachi

"Seven" started Menma

"Two" confirmed Neji

"Thirteen" Gaara said in his normal emotionless voice

"Five, how troublesome" muttered Shikamaru

"Four" said Kurotsuchi

"One" continued Naruto, already knowing who his opponent was

"Eleven" Sasuki followed quickly

"Nine" said Mito

"Ten" revealed Samui, stealing look at her confirmed opponent

"Three" this was from Kankuro

"Six" Temari said

"E-eight" said Omoi, already thinking of bad stuff that could happen for fighting against the Hokage's son

"Twelve" said Yakumo softly

"Fourteen" Shino was the last one to reveal his position

One by one in the screen that before showed who was going to fight the preliminars the new fights appeared, in a way that showed exactly who you _could _fight if you won yours, and how many fight it would take to win. Some of the Genins were excited about their fights, while some other were nervous and others didn't even care

Naruto's met Neji's for a moment, thinking that his confrontation with the Hyuga might come sooner than he thought it would

"The final part of the Chunin Exams will be exactly in one month from this day. All of you Genins should use this time in order to sharpen your skills" Itachi instructed, getting nods from most of the Genins

'A month to train, huh?' thought Naruto, thinking of what he would be practicing this month. There was no doubt on his mind that he would spend most of this time with his sensei and father-figure, Zeref. He would go and tell him as soon as possible

After that every Genin went with their team. Naruto was half tempted to disappear just there in order to go and talk with his sensei, but he knew that that wouldn't be fair to his friend, who had been giving him looks that he could easily interpret as 'explain' looks, so Naruto put a hand on her shoulder, making her look directly at him, trying her best to hide her curiosity

"I know you probably have a lot of questions, and I promise I will answer as many as I can… soon" whispered Naruto to Sasuki just loud enough for the two of them

At hearing his words Sasuki just looked directly as his eyes for a moment with a suspicious look before nodding, after all he did just promised her to explain in it soon. It would be a lie to say that Sasuki didn't want to know more about her friend's secrets, but she also knew that this was one of those things that Naruto just wouldn't share like that

It did hurt her a little bit the fact that he hid so many stuff from her, but she just shrugged off that feeling, after all they were ninjas, so having secrets was practically second nature for them

It still annoyed her though

After that Sasuki went to talk to her brother for a moment, leaving Naruto alone until both Kakashi and Anko, with Menma and Mito just behind them, approached him. For a moment Naruto believed that the silver-haired Jonin was going to ask him something about his fight against Lee or his entrance in Neji's and Hinata's fight, but the only thing that the Jonin did was to eye-smile at him before talking

"Naruto-kun, you need to be in the Hokage's office in one hour in order to talk about your training for the month" said Kakashi, immediately making Naruto suspicious. Why would they have to talk about that in the Hokage's office? A bad feeling already appeared on Naruto's head, but he just nodded to his sensei, to which he received another nod in return

"Look at that, all of our cute little Genins got to the finals! Kakashi this must be some kind of record or something" said Anko exited, to which Kakashi just chuckled while Menma smirked and Mito giggled a little bit

Unknown to all of the ninjas that were on the tower there was another being that was looking at Team 7 with a little bit of amusement and interest in his red-eyes. This being was none other than the Shinigami's must trusted servant, Alcor, who had been watching all fights every since they started

He was invisible to all the other people there though, in fact he was simply leaning against a wall. It wasn't real invisibility though,it was more like an aura around him that made everyone there to fail to notice him. It wasn't hard for the white-haired man to do something like that; after all he was not the Shinigami's right handed man for his fighting skills. No, the Shinigami valued other kind of skills instead of pure strength, and Alcor had many of those

With a chuckle Alcor's eyes went directly to Naruto's form, his red-eyes shining with nothing but interest

'**He's growing quite well… Shinigami-sama will be pleased'** thought the servant, before his eyes drifted to the other blonde of Team 7

'**Even my little pet managed to win… If everything plays right then…**' then Alcor's eyes drifted to the form of the Suna nin known as Gaara, to which the white-haired man's smile widened a little bit

'**Oh yes, this exam thing will definitely be interesting enough… I might have to spice things up a little bit though… but that just makes it even more funny'** thought Alcor before disappearing from the place, after all he did had other stuff to do

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_An hour later_

Just like some months ago Naruto was now standing before the door that lead to the Hokage's office. He had a bad feeling before but now? He just knew that this would not end nicely, especially if Minato and Kushina tried anything again

After releasing a sigh the blonde just knocked the door, which was met quickly with a "come in!" that Naruto easily recognized as the Hokage's voice. Naruto complied, and as soon as he entered he already felt like leaving

Not only was the Hokage, Namikaze Minato, there, which was already to be expected, but also every un-official member of the Uzumaki-Namikaze family was there too, which confirmed Naruto's suspicion about this not just being a talk between sensei and student

He easily recognized Kakashi and Kushina, both who smiled at him as soon as he entered. Minato was sitting on his desk, also smiling at him while just behind him with a grin was none other than Jiraiya of the Sannin, while on Kushina's right, with Kushina herself being just besides her husband, was also another member of the Sannin, one Senju Tsunade, was also there with the same poker face she had while watching the fights an hour ago, although Naruto easily noticed that the woman refused to met his eyes for some reason

The fact that Anko was not here just made everything more suspicious for the blonde. In fact right now he truly felt like he was standing on enemy territory

"I'm glad you could join us, Naruto-kun" Minato started looking at his son with a kind smile, to which Naruto just nodded at him before looking at Kakashi

"What is this about, sensei? I thought we were going to talk about training" commented the blonde, doing his best to keep his voice neutral, although he already had an idea of what was about to happen

The Jonin eye-smiled at the blonde, his book nowhere to be seen which was quite weird "That's what we're going to do, Naruto-kun, I just thought that it would be better if we get help from your family, don't you think?"

It was only his self-control that stopped Naruto from growling at hearing Kakashi's words. He should have expected for them to try something like this, after all Kushina had already had her attempt, and now it looked like it was everyone else's turn

At least Mito and Menma weren't here though, which made Naruto glad, after all he didn't want to test his control by hearing Menma's annoying voice and Mito's eyes full of longing

Why the hell would she watch him like that anyway?

Naruto just released a sigh, his right hand passing through his hair in a way to try and calm himself down. He was not going to be playing by their rules like that though, no. He already knew what he was going to do this month to train and spending time with _these_ people was not part of it

"This is a waste of time" said Naruto, making everyone to frown at him "I thought I had already make it clear that I was not going to learn _anything_ from this clan, and I'm sure you don't need to ask why" just like every time he talked with someone from his formed family Naruto's voice was devoid of emotions, his cold dark-blue eyes looking directly at the head of the family who was looking at him back with a frown and sadness obvious on his eyes

"Naruto-kun, I know that we have a lot of thing to make amends for, and this is our way to start" said the blonde Kage while standing "We can't express how sorry we are about everything, but please let us help you, son" Minato's voice was soft, and the pain in his eyes easily matched the one from his wife

Kakashi was now more confused than before. His sensei had asked him help with Naruto's training, and of course he had agreed to. He also knew that Naruto's relationship with his family was not the best, sad considering that he himself didn't have a pretty good relationship with the blonde neither, but the way Naruto was acting and his sensei's words were making it sound like it was a lot worse than he originally thought

But what had happened? Kakashi had got to the conclusion that Naruto just resented his family a little bit because they focused in training their siblings more than him, but this just raised a lot more questions in the Jonin's mind.

He would have to ask later about it, after all how could he try and form a bond with his sensei's sons if he didn't have all the information?

"C'mon gaki! I'll even teach you how to summon toads! How does that sounds?" this time it was Jiraiya the one who talked, trying his best to light the current situation.

However his grin faltered for a moment once Naruto's gaze went directly towards him. For some reason that look made him feel even guiltier than before to the point that he had to look the other way

Then Naruto looked at Tsunade, who still refused to meet his eyes. In fact her mask was already starting to crack, and Naruto could easily detect the sadness that was on her eyes, he didn't care about that though

"While I have nothing against the toads, slugs or snakes for that matter" it was true, Naruto couldn't blame the summons for the sins of the summoners "I believe that they should be kept into the families of their summoners, not be giving to an outsider like me, so I'll have to say no thank you"

Everyone was shocked by Naruto's words, even Tsunade actually turned to look at him in shock. Could Naruto truly believe that he wasn't a part of their family? Kushina had already told Minato about her talk with their son, but he had just thought she was overreacting a little bit

Apparently he had been wrong

No one was more shocked than Kakashi though, who didn't knew the complete extend of Naruto's neglect. Now he truly knew that he needed some answers, and was even thinking that this little reunion had not been a very good idea

"Naru-chan, please don't say that again!" said Kushina with teary eyes since everyone else was practicly left speechless by Naruto "I already told you that you are _our_ family! _We_ are your family! Just gives us a chance to set everything straight, please!" in the end the red-head's voice sounded quite desperate

"And I already told you that I _have_ a family, but that family isn't _you_ or anyone from _your_ family" Naruto's voice reached everyone in the room even though it was barely higher than a whisper "I will learn from that family, and there's nothing you can do to make me learn from any of you"

Then Naruto turned around, and it looked like he was about to leave, something that almost made Kushina to jump on him, but Naruto talked once again "The only thing that binds me to you is blood. No love, loyalty or anything but blood… and you need more than just blood to make a family…" then he turned slightly towards Kakashi, who's only visible eyes was widened in shock "Don't worry about training, _sensei_, I'll train on my own"

After that Naruto finally moved towards the door, ready to leave this place, however he stopped once a pair of arms wrapped around his body tightly, holding him in place. Naruto's complete body tensed, the blonde knowing perfectly who was the one hugging him

"Let me go" said Naruto, his voice gaining an edge that few had ever heard, however Kushina was not going to let her son to just go away like that

"I won't!" almost yelled Kushina, hugging Naruto even tighter to her body. She didn't know why, but she just had a feeling that if she let him leave right now the rift between them would become even wider

The blonde didn't answer, instead he just closed his eyes, and then Kushina's day became even worse by Naruto's next actions

_Puff_

Revealing himself to be nothing but a clone, Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Kushina was fast to burst into tears and fall to her knees as soon as she saw that her son had not been here in the first place, and that their relationship had probably become even worse, if that was possible

Kushina's sobs was the things that finally got Minato out of his shocked state, and he was fast to come to his wife side and hug her, letting her cry on his chest

Everyone else in the room could not think of anything to say, the real damage of their actions, of to be more precise the lack of actions, finally reaching home. However one question did settle into everyone's mind

Where was Naruto?

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Naruto and Zeref_

Both mages were walking now in a hallway that looked almost like an exact replica of the one in the training room they both used to train only that wider, however Naruto knew that this place was different; after all they had just teleported from that training room to this place

After Kakashi had told him that he had to go to the Hokage's office Nartuo had gone directly to where his real sensei, Zeref, was in order to inform him of what had happened on the Chunin Exams

After telling him everything Zeref had simply told him to make a clone and send him to that meeting and _politely_ decline whatever training Kakashi had prepared since Zeref had already planned to train Naruto himself

Naruto had accepted and after leaving, creating a clone, and going back to the training room Zeref showed him another magical circle that worked just like the one he normaly used. Basicly it was used to teleport people to another place

It was the first time Naruto had seen this one, and Zeref was quick to simply grab Naruto's arm and using said circle to disappear from the place, appearing in a hallway somewhere else

Now both mages were walking on this hallway with Zeref on the lead. Naruto was of course curious about why they had to go to another place in order to train, and where this place was exactly, but he had decided to ask these questions later

Then out of a sudden Naruto's mind was hit by memories of his clones, making the blonde to stumble and hold his head in pain, a headache also forming itself

"What happened" asked Zeref, who had stopped as soon as Naruto stopped to because of the memories of his clone. The blonde grunted in pain for a moment before looking at his sensei's eyes, and Zeref could easily detect the emotions that his apprentice was trying to hide

"Nothing, let's just go" said Naruto, to which Zeref just looked at him for a few moments before nodding and continuing walking, Naruto just behind him

The blonde for his part had of course just received the memories of his _**Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) **_and to say he didn't like them would be putting it short. Not only they couldn't accept the fact that he wanted nothing to do with them, but that woman had the nerve to actually hug him like if they were close

Then both mages reached what looked like a normal wall. It had nothing special, and Naruto was confused for a moment until Zeref waved his hand in front of the wall. Then a serious of marks that Naruto couldn't recognize appeared in the wall just before they flashed purple

The blonde closed his eyes for the light, and when he opened there wasn't at all anymore, but a rather big door that looked like it was made of iron was now standing just in front of him

"How did you do that?" Naruto of course had seen a lot of things that his sensei could do, but this was the first time he had even watched something like that

"Magic" was Zeref's answer, and Naruto was about to ask if that was supposed to be some kind of joke, but he didn't get the time since the door opened slowly and Zeref stepped out, Naruto following him immediately

Snow. That was the thing that met Naruto as soon as he crossed that door. They were now in a clearing that was surrounded by trees, with pure white snow covering everything. Even now the snow was still falling everywhere. With the snow also come the sudden feeling of coldness and while Naruto was definitely not dressed for this kind of environment he did his best to hide his discomfort

Naruto had never seen snow before, so his attention easily went to it until a light behind him made him turn just in time to see the door that he had used disappear, leaving only the entrance of a small cave that looked perfectly normal

"Stop hiding, is time for introductions" said Zeref, getting the blondes attention. As soon as he said that two figures appeared from the trees, landing just in front of Zeref, their bodies completely covered by hooded tunics

Their sudden appearance of course put Naruto on guard, especially since one of them had a familiar looking sword strapped on his back

"Naruto, I'm sure you already know him but let me introduce you to your two senseis for this month" said Zeref just before gesturing to the bigger looking person "Momochi Zabuza" at hearing his name the Kirin nin lowered his hood, letting Naruto to see the face of the man he had defeated in Nami

Then Zeref signalred to the other individual, who was smaller than Zabuza "and Pakura" then the second person also lowered her hood, allowing Naruto to see another person that followed his sensei

This woman had fair skin and pupil less brown eyes. Her hair was green and was tied into a bun with two long strands of orange hair framing her face

Both nins nodded at Zeref, and then Pakura nodded at Naruto while Zabuza just glared at him, receiving a cold look from the blonde in return

Of course the blonde had more than once before wondered about how many people his sensei had outside the village every since he had faced Zabuza, but his question to the dark mage just got cryptic answers that truly didn't gave a lot of information to the blonde, so it wasn't a surprise that he was at least wary of them

"I think there might be problems with this settings, sensei" said Naruto

"No there won't" said Zeref, his black eyes shifting between Naruto and Zabuza until they landed on the blonde "I'm not telling you to trust them, I'm not even telling you that you have to like them. The only thing you need to do is to learn from them. I have confidence in their skills and I know they will teach you with the best of their ability… right?" that last part was said while looking at both Jonins, who were quick to answer

"Of course, Zeref-sama" was Pakura's answer

"Yeah sure, it won't be my fault if the gaki can't handle the training though" said Zabuza, getting a nod from Zeref, who once again turned to his apprentice

"They will teach you both the art of the sword and what you know as _**Futon (Wind Release)**_. Those two things will be your main focus this month, understood?" said Zeref, to which Naruto just nodded, although he still had some questions

"Can I really learn _**Kenjutsu (Sword Techniques)**_ in only a month?" wondered the blonde out loud, getting a big mocking laugh from Zabuza, which was stopped by Pakura, who slapped him on the back of his head

"I'm not asking you to become a master or anything like that" said Zeref "But I at least want you to know how to hold a sword without hurting yourself"

Naruto ended up just nodding, although his right eye did twitch at hearing his sensei's words. It made him sound like a reckless idiot in his opinion. Then Zeref came closer to him before putting a hand on his shoulder "You don't need to hide your skills from them, however don't call it magic, it's best if we let the details of our power between ourselves" whispered the dark mage, getting another nod of acceptance from his apprentice

Zeref then left, using the same door that appeared out of nowhere once again

Naruto was left alone in the snowy clearing with apparently his two new teachers for the month. Neither of the three of them said anything, until of course Zabuza opened his mouth

"Do you even have a sword?" asked the swordsman, not remembering seeing a sword when he faced the blonde

Naruto didn't answer, instead he just extended his arm with his palm open, and just in his hand a completely black katana appeared. The blonde swirled the blade around before looking at Zabuza straight in the eyes

"I think this will do" said the blonde, getting a small smile from Pakura, who was close enough to Zabuza to hear the words he had just grumbled

"Show off"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Two days later, Hokage Monument, midnight_

"Are you sure?" asked Zeref, his black eyes looking directly at the form of one of his spies, who was dressed in a normal ANBU uniform, his ANBU mask completely hiding his face

"Yes, you know how good my eyes are, I could not have missed it" answered back the man, his voice calm and controlled

"I see" was the only thing that Zeref said, and with a dismissive wave the ANBU disappeared quickly, letting the mage alone on top of the Shodaime's head

'It seems that putting the soul of the actual dragon on the Lacrima had extra effects' thought the dark mage, once again thinking about the report that his spy had gave to him

It wasn't much, only how the fight between his apprentice and a boy named Rock Lee went. He would ask Naruto once again in order to confirm some stuff, but if what he had been told was true then the blonde would need an even bigger control of his emotions

After all dragons could be quite destructive when their emotions got the better of them

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Days later, a week before the Finals_

Just like any day every since he started training with both Zabuza and Pakura Naruto was completely exhausted. He was now in a small room, which was located on the hallway that connected the training room in Konoha with the place that he now knew was in fact _**Tetsu no Kuni (Land of Iron)**_

He was sitting on the corner of the bed that this room had, his whole body aching in pain and his chakra lower that he could ever remember

Just like his sensei had told him his training this past three months had been focused on almost nothing but _**Kenjutsu (Sword Arts) **_and _**Futon (Wind Release) **_ training

Pakura has showed herself to be a demanding teacher. Apparently being Zeref's apprentice made her have big expectations of Naruto's abilities, which the blonde was more than glad to show. The first thing they had done was continuing the elemental training only that instead of cutting a leaf Naruto was tasked with cutting a waterfall

Finding a waterfall wasn't that hard since there was one pretty close, but the training itself had been hard for the blonde. For starters he had done so completely naked, with only his underwear on, and to say that the water of the waterfall was cold would have been putting it lightly

Apparently this was for Naruto to learn to focus in extreme situations, and just like any other training Naruto did it without complaining. The word 'Natural' had sounded from Pakura's mouth as soon as Naruto had managed to cut the waterfall on his second day, although the blonde believe that it probably was more because of the fact that he had barely sleep in those two days, wanting to cut the damn waterfall as soon as possible

Then came the learning of the techniques itself. Pakura was even more demanding with that, apparently expecting for Naruto to pick up the jutsus as easy as he had picked the previous exercise

That had been even harder for the blonde since Pakura's way of teaching was showing him the jutsu itself, the hand-sings and then making Naruto repeat the technique until his chakra reserved were completely empty, which was not easy to do. Pakura stood with him, correcting every mistake that Naruto made while doing the techniques

Then at the end of the day and after a little break Pakura would make Naruto fight against her, telling him that the only thing he could use was _**Futon (Wind Release)**_ and nothing else, something that made Naruto just more appreciated of his magic

He was normally defeated easily in those fights, which was of course to be expected. He was hit many times by her _**Futon (Wind Release) **_techniques, something that she had said was necessary since knowing exactly how much damage a technique can do is an important part of mastering said technique

Zabuza was even worse though. He didn't know if the man still had a grudge on him, or he just enjoyed putting people on his limits, but his training was just more demanding

He would make Naruto repeat the same katas over and over again until his body could go no longer, and every time he made a single mistake he was met with a _**Suiton: Teppodama (Water Release: Gunshot) **_courtesy of the Jonin

And just like with Pakura by the end of the day he was forced to fight against Zabuza using nothing but swords. He couldn't use any jutsu or any other type of magic, not that they knew that it was magic in the first place, and let's just say that by the end of those fights Naruto's body was filled with cuts and blood and leave it like that

There were only three days in which the training had been different, and that had been when Zeref personally trained Naruto. That was mostly just reinforcement of what Naruto already knew, and in their spars Zeref forced the blonde to use everything he had learned alongside what he already knew

During one of these days Zeref had told Naruto that he wanted for him that he should go all out on the Chunin Exams, since the enemies there could be truly dangerous if Naruto didn't fight seriously, even if it meant showing all of his magic to everyone

Naruto had told him about how that might bring futures issues, but Zeref had just waved off his worried, telling him that he would take care of that soon, but not really telling the blonde how he would be doing that

Naruto was so caught up on his thoughts that he didn't even noticed someone entering the room quietly until a hand was put on his shoulder. Acting on instincts Naruto quickly took as hold of the person's wrist and pushed her to a wall, his other hand on the wall in order to not let this person escape

"Haku" the blonde breathed out, finally recognizing the person that had just got to his room

"Naruto-kun" the young girl said softly, her brown eyes looking directly at Naruto's dark blue ones

It was now that Naruto recognized how close the two where. He was basically pushing Haku against the wall, his right hand holding Haku's wrist just above her head. Her face was close to his, and she was looking up to him with the same kind eyes he remembered, and her normal pale cheeks had a tint of pink on them that just made her even more beautiful in the blonde's opinion

"What are you doing here?" Naruto was quick to release her and putting some distance between them. He noted that she was wearing the same kimono she wore when they talked, and wondered if she had a room here too or something since he remembered that there were other rooms on this place

"I wanted to check on you since I know how hard training with Zabuza-sama can be" said the young girl, who now couldn't meet the blonde's eyes "I can also help you with you wounds, if you want…"

Naruto looked at her for a moment, his mind going at a mile per second. He had been thinking about her occasionally, and while it still hurt him a little bit that their meeting and 'friendship' was nothing but a ploy, he really couldn't find it in him to blame the girl for that

He in fact blamed his sensei even more, but he had already made peace with that, after all he knew that in the end his sensei had his best interest in mind, and that while he didn't like his methods he had to admit that he had at least learned from it

Besides he could easily remember Haku's expression the last time they saw each other when she had escaped with Zabuza, and he could easily tell that she truly felt bad about it

The blonde ended up just nodding at the girl just before removing his black shirt, which was the only thing he had besides his pants, and sitting once again on the bed. Haku was fast to come just behind him, her hand going over the many wounds he had on his back and sides

Suddenly a feeling of numbness and reliefe washed over the blonde. He looked back at Haku just for a moment to see her hands covered in a green aura that the blonde didn't recognized, but since it was actually making him feel better he didn't ask her about it and just stayed sitting not knowing what to say now

Both Naruto and Haku stayed in silence for a few minutes, Naruto just looking at the other wall of the room and Haku tending over his wounds. It would have continued like that, but Haku's soft voice finally reached the blonde's ears

"I'm sorry" said the girl, and Naruto didn't have to ask her about what she was apologizing for, after all it was pretty clear

"It's ok… I don't blame you for what happened" answered the blonde, making the girl stop for a moment; her eyes open wide in surprise. She had expected for him to actually hate her, or to at least not trust her, and yet he had apparently forgiven her

"You should hate me" said the girl, her hands once again working on Naruto. The blonde just turned slightly, allowing him to look straight at her eyes

"I already have a lot of hate, I really don't need more" was Naruto's answer, and the girl, while surprised about it, just nodded before healing his wounds once again

Then both just stayed in another silence, only that this one was a lot more comfortable than before. Then Haku turned around to treat the wounds on his chest, her cheeks once again gaining a pink tint at touching Naruto's body

He was muscular, but not overly so. He had what you could call the body of a swimmer, lean but muscular without being bulky, something that suited Naruto since he preferred speed more than anything

"It's done" announced the girl after finishing what she came to do

"Thank you" answered the blonde, truly feeling grateful about her help, after all she didn't need to do it, and yet she still had

"I guess I'll leave now" muttered the girl, not knowing what else to do now. She stood and tried to move towards the door, however she stopped once Naruto's hand grabbed her wrist, which of course made her turn around to look at him

"You can stay… I think I would like to talk to you like before, if that's ok with you of course" the blonde did the best to not let his emotions to show on his voice, after all he had truly missed his normal talks with Haku. Sasuki might had been his first friend, but he somehow felt like Haku could understand him a lot easier than everyone else

His request just got a honest smile from Haku that practically lighted up the place. In fact it even made Naruto to smile a little bit in return too

"I would love that"

The two friends just stayed there for hours, simply talking about everything they could come up with. From Naruto's training to Haku's _**Hyoton (Ice Release) **_and to their thoughts about certain dark mage, little by little strengthening their bond

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Three days until the Finals_

Naruto was now standing just in front of Zeref in the middle of snow-covered clearing that was quite far from the cave that magically connected the hallway he had been using sleeping in the last month

The dark mage had simply appeared today saying that the training was over, to which both Pakura and Zabuza had just accepted, while Naruto was slightly confused since there were still three other days before the Finals

Then Zeref had simply commanded Naruto to follow him, which he of course did, until they reached a big clearing that just like any other place here was covered by snow

"I'm going to show you something Naruto" said the black haired mage while looking at his apprentice "What I am about to show you must _only_ be used in extreme circumstances, or else the consequences might be disastrous" warned Zeref to his apprentice, making frown before nodding, now more curious than ever

Then Zeref extended his hand and in a white flash something appeared on it, a sword to be more precise. Naruto actually recognized the sword, it was the same that his sensei had used to send him to face his shadow many months ago

"Here, take a look" said the man while giving the blade to his apprentice, allowing him to finally inspect it closely. The Tsuba had a gray color on it, while the Tsuka was completely black. The blade itself was also completely black, however it had four Kanji's written alongside its length, two completely white while two other in red

The two red ones were the kanji for 'Slayer' and 'King', while the white ones were the kanji's for 'Hunter' and 'Fairy'. They were slightly separated from each other and practically covered the whole blade

There was something off about this sword though, and Naruto could easily feel it. He didn't know why, but just holding it made him feel like he was being watched, only that he didn't know by who, or what

Zeref took the sword out of Naruto's hand and then moved to the other side of the clearing, talking while walking "Do not worry, Naruto-kun, you will be completely safe, I just want you to meet an… old friend" said the dark mage, actually making Naruto a little bit nervous

"Are you ready?" asked Zeref, getting a sharp nod from the blonde. Zeref nodded back and without saying anything else he stabbed the sword on the ground, a big black magic circle appearing just below him. Naruto couldn't hear what he was saying, but he knew that he was whispering something, and then nothing but light covered his view for a few seconds before it disappeared.

Then the blonde finally opened his eyes, and his blue eyes met white eyes of the one that had the title of King

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_The Next day, Konoha_

Our blonde protagonist was, to put it simple, completely bored. He was now resting on one of the many training grounds that Konoha had, his body lying on the grass while his gaze was set on the sky and the clouds, something that certain Nara would have loved to do right now

Yesterday his training with Pakura and Zabuza had officially ended just before meeting _him_, which had been quite the unique event, after all it wasn't every day that you get to meet someone that could easily crush you, or eat you, or probably fight on pair with the Kyubi of all beings

To say that Naruto was overwhelmed would have been an understatement

And now the instrument to summon such a powerful being was strapped to his waist, said instrument being a katana that looked normal at first glance, but that for Naruto it hold unthinkable power

The reason for him being here was that his sensei had practically forced him to rest for the last two days he had before the Finals, something that Naruto argued against but that in the end ended up agreeing to.

He would have liked to keep training, but it was his talks with Haku, which had become something daily, that he would truly miss. The two of them had ended up a lot closer than before, something that Naruto rather liked, although he did noticed that talking about Sasuki with her always made her frown for some reason

He didn't know why, but he just guessed it was a girl's thing

His first thought as soon as he got back to Konoha had been to go and see Sasuki, only that the girl was nowhere to be seen. Shikamaru had become his second option, but once again he had no idea where to find him, so in the end the blonde had just ended up in this place, looking at the sky and just relaxing

And he would have continued, but a sudden voice stopped him from that

"Look who I found! My favorite Genin!" said an energetic voice that Naruto easily recognized. The blonde looked to a tree that was nearby, from which certain Jonin was sitting in a branch, looking at the blonde with a smirk

"Anko" said the blonde

"The one and only!" replied the Jonin after going down from the tree she was sitting on, looking at Naruto with her hands on her hips

"How did you find me?" asked the blonde after standing up with a raised eye-brow, wondering how the snake mistress had been able to find him here

"It's not like this is a secret place or anything" said the woman while waving her hand in front of her "I wasn't even looking for you, I just ended up stumbling upon you, that's all" then Anko's normal playful eyes turned into a glare, which made Naruto blink at her "Where the hell were you anyway?! You do remember that the Finals are in a couple of days, right? Please tell me you haven't been wasting your time!"

"You worry too much, Anko" said the blonde, not the least affected by Anko's glare "Of course I have been training"

It was then that Anko noticed the sword that Naruto had, and after looking at it with a curious expression for a few seconds she suddenly grinned at him "Well it seems that you might have picked up something interesting, care to show little old me what you have learned, Naru-kun?"

Normally Naruto would have denied such a request, however not only y this could be a good way of seeing if he had truly improved this month, but also a way of distracting himself for the rather boring day he had until now

"Sure" said Naruto, actually surprising Anko for a moment since she thought it would not that easy to get him to have a spar with her. She wouldn't complain though, and quickly followed Naruto to the center of the training ground

"You better no hold back against me, Naru-kun, or you might not get to the Finals in one piece" taunted Anko, getting a twitch from the corner of Naruto's mouth

"Don't worry sensei, I promise I won't, and for your sake I hope you don't either" said Naruto, getting Anko's to smirk at him

"Those are pretty big words there, think you can back them up" now Anko was really getting excited about this, after all as far as she knew Naruto was not one to act over-confident on his skills, so the fact that he was acting like this really made her interested

"Let's find out, shall we?" were Naruto's last words before he got into his stance, Anko following him quickly. Both Genin and Jonin looked straight at each other in the eyes before both disappeared, their quick movement signaling the start of the fight

And fight they did

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Minutes later_

Mitarashi Anko was a strong Kunoichi. Everybody knew that, after all not only was she one of the best Jonin and ANBU that the village had, but she was trained by Orochimaru of the Sannin himself. Anko's attitude itself was something that made her even more feared in the village, especially by the guys that tried to hit on her

So it was not really surprising that she had believe that she would be able to teach a thing or two to Naruto during their little spar. She believed that while he was strong that there was no way that he, a Genin, could defeat someone like her, an ANBU.

How wrong she had been

Anko was now leaning her body against a tree, her clothes ripped and multiple wounds on her body, although none of them was lethal. Not only that but she was exhausted. She could count with her fingers the number of opponents that had left her on this state

The first one being of course her sensei and mentor, Orochimaru. The second had been one Uchiha Itachi during one of the test that she had to pass in order to become an ANBU. The third one had been more recent, it was that S-rank criminal known as Zancrow, and the last and fourth one had just be added to her list a few minutes ago

One Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto

She could not understand how she could have been defeated like that! Not only had the blonde been even faster than when he fought that Lee kid, but he also even used techniques that Anko had never seen on her life

It was truly a miracle that no one had appeared to watch the action

Whoever had thought the blonde had made a damn good job at it, Anko had though as soon as the fight had ended. Of course she hadn't used her more deadly techniques, not wanting to cause permanent harm on Naruto just a few days before the Finals, but now she even doubted about those techniques changing the outcome of the fight

Anko sighed and stood up, flinching because of the pain in her body. The blonde had already felt, he had offered to help her but she had refused, saying that she would just like to be alone. The fight had been after all something that had seriously damaged her pride

It had looked like the blonde was about to argue with her, but the blonde had looked like he had sensed someone and with a hasty goodbye he had ended up leaving, to which Anko was actually grateful

"Sensei is going to love this… and Kabuto is never going to let me live with it" commented Anko just before disappearing in a _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_ her objective being to inform her sensei about what had just happened

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Naruto_

"Why are you following me?" asked Naruto, a little bit of irritation showing on his voice. The person to which he had asked the question just pouted at him, her bright blue eyes looking directly at his cold dark-blue ones

"Onii-chan! Where have you been?! You got us all worried, you know?!" said the red-headed girl in a loud voice, completely ignoring Naruto's question. The blonde just sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose with his fingers, stopping the headache that was raising to his head

'Of course, from all the people that could find me today, it had to be the annoying hamster' after his little spar with Anko Naruto had been able to fell that someone who's chakra was easy enough to recognize was actually watching the spar, and as soon as he felt it he had left, not wanting to face that person

After all he still wasn't sure about _how_ to treat her.

During his little month of training Naruto had a lot of time to think. It was basically the only other thing that he did besides training, sleeping and talking to Haku, so many times he just found himself with wandering thoughts, doing his best to clear his head, something that Zeref had completely agreed to

The problem was that most of those thoughts ended up being of his former family. He had commented this to his sensei and the only thing that he had told him was that he should use this to truly think about his relationship with them, something that while Naruto didn't like ended up doing it anyway, with the hope that they would finally disappear from his head

With Minato and Kushina had been easy enough. They had failed him in every way possible, and he was damn sure that not only he hated them and wanted nothing to do with them, but that he would never see them as anything remotely close to family. There were just too many bad feelings between them in his opinion for that

He also thought of course about their new behavior towards him, something that had confused him for a while. Why do they care for him now? They didn't care for him for more than ten years, so what changed?

He had come to the conclusion that _nothing_ had changed, and that their actions were the simple result of one thing

Guilt

In his opinion they didn't truly care for him, they just felt guilty about their neglect towards him, after all they should have cared for him just like they cared for their other children. They wanted to make amends to him just to get rid of that guilt that they felt, not because they truly loved him, and Naruto was not going to play by their tune. He didn't care if they felt guilty, and he wasn't going to let them use him as a way to get read of that guilt

It might be a hard way to think about it, but Naruto honestly thought that he was right, after all in his opinion there was no other real reason for his former parents to suddenly start trying to fix things between them

Menma had been a lot easier. He had been tormenting Naruto every since they were seven, if Naruto remembered correctly. Before that they had a little rivalry, but Menma had never acted like a brother to him in any way. In the academy Menma had stayed as away from him as he could, and Naruto was glad for that, but it became worse once they ended up in the same team

He truly didn't know what Menma's problem was, and he honestly didn't care about it. If he wanted to hate him then that was fine, after all the feeling was mutual at this point. There was no lost love between them, and Naruto knew perfectly that their relationship would never go beyond a professional one, and that would be even reachable if Menma grew up once it for all

Jiraiya and Tsunade, his supposed godparents, had been another easy subject on his mind. They had never cared for him neither, easily showing love for his siblings but never to him, in fact they acted like he never existed. They were in the same room as Minato and Kushina in his opinion, and while the four of them were great ninjas he would never accept to learn anything from them.

It was the other two members of that family that truly confused Naruto. Those two were his two _sisters_, Mito and Natsumi

With Mito it was a truly complicated subject. On one part he wanted to hate her for abandoning him when she needed someone the most and he had believed that he had been able to do that, but on this month he couldn't stop remembering the fact that she had been truly the first person to ever show him love in every way.

While he liked to thing that Zeref had been the first one to truly care for him, in the end his heart knew that it had been Mito the first one to show him kindness. The first one to make him feel like he was worth something

But she had abandoned him. She had betrayed him. He wanted to hate her for that, but every time he thought about it he always came to the same question

Why?

Why had she abandoned him? Had she just decided to follow her family's example and treat him coldly? Or was there another reason? Before he hadn't care about her reason, thinking that it wouldn't change anything, but now he had to admit that he needed to know. He wanted to get a closure to that part of his childhood, and for that he would need to know

He would have to ask her. He didn't know if he would ever forgive her, even if she told him her reason, but he needed to know

Then came Natsumi, the youngest one of that family. From all of them she was easily the hardest one to hate, mostly because he didn't have any _good_ reason to hate her. True, she had also treated him bad when they were kids, but he blamed Menma and her parents for that more than her

Menma for telling her that it was ok, and Minato and Kushina for never stopping him or correcting her. She had been after all barely six before Naruto completely separated himself from his family after meeting Zeref, and Naruto could truly hate her for her actions

He might hate, but he wouldn't hate without a damn good reason

But he didn't love her, that was for sure. There just wasn't any type of connection between them, at least in his opinion. The best way to describe his feelings towards her would be that they were neutral. He didn't despise her, but he didn't love her either

It was for that reason that he wanted more time to think how he would act around her. Sadly he didn't get that time since now said girl was pouting angrily at him, of course the glare directed at him was completely ineffective

In fact it was almost cute

Almost

"I was training" was Naruto's simpler answer to the younger girl, who kept glaring at him, apparently expecting him to say something else. When he didn't the young blue-eyes girl just threw her hands in the air in frustration before grabbing Naruto's arm with the intention of dragging him somewhere else

"C'mon then! Let's tell Kaa-chan that you're back! You also need to tell how you got so strong! You even managed to defeat a Jonin! I was watching your fight and it was so awesome! You need to teach me how to do that!" the girl keeps blabbing stuff at a speed that Naruto actually found it hard to listen, however he quickly reacted and took his arm out of the girl's grasp, making her turn and look at him in confusion

"No thank you, I have other things to do" said Naruto, and before Natsumi could even do anything he was already gone in a _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Hokage Monument_

"Well that was something" muttered the blonde after appearing on the head of the Shodaime, thinking that he had just escaped the bullet that was Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsumi

The blonde sat down, his eyes overlooking the whole village. Not knowing what else to do he had simply decided to relax for a while, maybe go looking for Sasuki again in a few minutes.

The blonde just sat there for some minutes, not really thinking of anything but just enjoying the view. While his opinion of Konoha was definitely not the best one, he couldn't truly say if he hated the village or not. He definitely resented a lot of people here, but hating the village as a whole was another completely different thing

He would have continued to ponder this, however a loud voice that he easily recognized once again sounded from behind him, making him both groan and blink in surprise

"Onii-chan!" yelled Natsumi, making the blonde turn around to look at her with a combination of surprise and frustration, although he did his best to hide it. It looked like the girl was about to say something, however Naruto beat her to the punch

"How did you find me?" asked the blonde, truly curious about how she managed to find her in this place. It wasn't like a lot of people knew that he liked this place anyway, and he refused to believe that she just had a lucky guess

The girl looked at him for a moment before blinking and then taking her hand to her chin and closing her eyes, apparently deep in thought. After a few seconds of that she opened her eyes and looked directly at Naruto

"I don't know" was Natsumi's answer, receiving a deadpanned expression from the blonde

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto did his best to keep his frustration out of his voice, and it seemed that it had worked since Natsumi just shrugged at him

"I don't know, I just knew that you were here as soon as you disappeared" replied the girl, who then put her hands on her hips before talking once again "How did you do that anyway?! And that was rude, Onii-chan! You shouldn't have just left like that!"

Naruto had just ignored her last comments though, his mind thinking of what she had said at the beginning. She just knew that he was here? How? Then a sudden idea appeared on Naruto's head. He didn't know if he was right, but he truly didn't have anything to do, and while being in the presence of Natsumi right now was kind of awkward for him, his curiosity won in the end

"Oi, pipsqueak" said Naruto while standing, getting Natsumi's attention

"Don't call me that!" the angry girl shouted at him, but the blonde wasn't affected at all by her glare

"Try to find me again" were Naruto's simpler words before he once again disappeared by using _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_, letting a fuming Natsumi alone

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Academy's rooftop _

Naruto appeared in a swirl of leafs, and without doing anything else he just stood there, looking directly at the door that was the only entrance of the rooftop

He waited around five minutes, and just like he expected Natsumi opened the door with a kick, her eyes set into a glare

"Onii-chan, stop doing that!" said the frustrated Natsumi, who didn't like to have to chase around her brother like that. She was about to ask her brother about his reason for just disappearing like that, and if he could teach her that, but she stopped as soon as she saw the way Naruto was looking at her

The blonde's were set firmly on her's, and Natsumi felt like he was looking at her very own soul. She suddenly felt a lot more self-conscious and started playing with her while looking at the other way nervously

"Close your eyes" Naruto said out of a sudden, making the girl squeak in surprise

"W-what? Why?" questions the young red-head, not understanding what her brother wanted

"Just do it" commanded the blonde, his voice calm as ever, but still got Natsumi to do it, still not knowing why, but not seeing any reason to not trust her brother

"I want you to take a deep breath and relax" said the blonde, and Natsumi easily did what she was told, taking deep breaths and releasing them in a calmed way

"Now tell if you can know where…" Naruto stopped for a moment, thinking of someone close enough to the girl that she would know how that person's chakra felt "…Jiraiya is"

"Ero-sennin?" the girl said out loud before focusing in the task that her brother had just told her. She didn't know how she would be able to know where the white haired Sannin was, but she guessed she could at least try

Naruto waited for a few seconds, looking directly at the young girl, wanting to see if his little theory was correct. Then the red-head opened her eyes wide in surprise before pointing just behind Naruto

"He's over there, Onii-chan" said the girl, surprised and exited by the fact that she could actually feel where the perverted ninja was "I think he's on the hot springs, probably doing perverted stuff" the last part was more than a grumbling, and Naruto just nodded, now believing that his theory was in fact correct

'She's a sensor' thought the blonde, coming to the conclusion that the girl's ability to find him was her simply using her natural abilities without even noticing it 'and a damn good one if she can do it like that at such a young age'

"You should tell your parents about that skill of yours" commented the blonde, already satisfied by his little discovery. Then the blonde made a move to leave, this time using the rooftops instead of the _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_

Natsumi easely saw that, and quickly grabbed Naruto's hand with her own, stopping him from leaving and making him raise an eyebrow in question at her

"Wait!" said the girl, not wanting her elder brother to leave. Honestly she wanted to spend some time with him, after all she hadn't see him in a while now, and she always had time for her 'cool brother'

"What is it?" asked the blonde, making the girl think of an excuse to stop him from leaving. Then an idea popped into her head, something that she truly believed would work

"I know! Let's go eat ramen, Onii-chan!" said the girl happily, thinking that her elder brother would share her little obsession with the food, after all who didn't love ramen?

The blonde just looked at her, not knowing if she was being serious or not. Sure, he actually liked the food, but he couldn't understand why was she so excited about it, it was just food after all

"Sorry, I'm busy" said the blonde, detaching himself from the young girl. He still felt awkward around her, so he really wanted to be away from her until he managed to truly sort out of thought about her

However this didn't set well for the young girl, who suddenly hugged him by his waist since she was quite shorter than him. The blonde was definitely surprised by her actions, but he quickly recovered and was about to break her hug, but her words stopped him cold

"If you don't come with me I'll tell Kaa-chan and Tou-chan where you are!" Natsumi, a little desperate, ended up saying something without thinking.

Her words made Naruto stop and look down at the girl in shock. Was she actually blackmailing him like that? What the hell was that about?! The words thing was that her threat was actually effective, after all he now knew that she could probably find him sooner or later if he was in Konoha, so her telling her parents about where he was, something that he would hate it to happen, was definitely possible

He didn't even have a place to hide. His sensei had told him to not go to the training room and stay in Konoha until the Chunin Exams for some reason that he hadn't even bother to explain to the blonde, and his apartment was out of the question, after all the last thing she wanted was _everyone_ from that family knowing where he lived

The blonde ended up just releasing a sigh. Apparently he hadn't given enough credit to the girl if she could pick us something to threaten him with so easily. He looked down, directly into her blue eyes, noticing how her expression practically yelled "please!" and ended up saying something that he would regret in a few minutes

"Fine"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_An hour later, Ichiraku Ramen_

'This has to be some sort of sick joke…' thought the blonde, his normal mask of indifference actually turned into shocked expression

The reason for that was simple. He had ended up accepting eating ramen with Natsumi, expecting to see the girl only eating one bowl, maybe even two

But definitely not ten

No, wait… eleven

"Where does it all go?" wondered the blonde out loud, not understanding the metabolism of the young girl. He had only ate one bowl, and yet the girl was still going

It was after three more bowls that the girl was finally satisfied, and of course the bill came, delivered by a brown-haired young woman whose name he didn't know

His eyes widened at seeing the amount he had to pay, and his right eye was twitching by the moment he gave her the money, while Natsumi was looking at him with sheepishly smile, her right hand scratching the back of her head

"Sorry, I just like ramen a lot!" said the girl, to which Naruto almost snorted

"Yes I can see that" muttered the blonde with a sigh, his wallet feeling a lot lightier than usual

The blonde finally stood up from his seat and started walking on the streets, noticing how the sun was already going down. He turned for a moment, confirming that Natsumi was following with an expectant glint on her eyes and a smile on her lips. He then did something that surprised the young girl

He flicked her forehead with his fingers

"You should go home now, it's getting late" said the blonde in his normal calm tone while Natsumi rubbed the spot he had flicked while pouting at him

"Then you should come with me!" declared the girl who was about to grab his arm, but Naruto flicked her on the forehead again, this time a little bit harder

"Not this time, Shorty" said Naruto, getting Natsumi to glare at him

"Don't call me that! I'm not short!" said the girl while waving her arms wildly in frustration, although it was hard for the blonde to take her seriously considering that he easily towered over her, her head barely reaching his chest

"Yeah, tell me that once you reach this height" said the blonde holding his hand at the same level with his chin. Natsumi just glared at him a bit more before huffing and crossing her arms over her chest.

Naruto turned around and kept moving, hoping that the young red-head would follow her part of the deal and not tell her parents where he was. He hadn't moved so far though before he had heard Natsumi's voice once again

"Onii-chan!" called the young girl, getting Naruto to turn around slightly to look at her. She was now sporting a big smile, her eyes filled with excitement

"Good luck on the Finals!" wished the girl, and the blonde could practically feel the sincerity in her voice. He ended up just nodding at her before once again continuing his walking; however there was now something different on his expression

The ghost of a smile

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, on a rooftop close to Ichiraku_

The form of the white-haired servant of the Shinigami known as Alcor was sitting on the edge of a roof, his crimson red eyes looking at the retreating form of both Naruto and Natsumi

However instead of the normal smile he had on his face he had a scowl directed at no one but the youngest member of the Uzumaki-Namikaze family

"**Now that won't do…**" muttered the servant, his eyes following Natsumi easily and his scowl becoming even bigger

"**I guess I should have done something to her too…**" once again the white-haired man muttered just before his smile returned once again to his lips, however his red eyes, which were still focused on Natsumi, now had the same glint that he had whenever he 'educated' Zeref whenever he stepped out of the line, his smile having a darker tone than normal

"**Oh well, I'll just have to take care of her soon enough**" said the man before releasing a dark chuckle "**One less little human in the world to worry about then**"

And with that he left

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Now I know what you're probably thinking, that this chapter feels rushed, well that's because it is. Honestly I could have made more chapters about the training month, but I just ended up deciding to jump to the last part of the arc already**

**It doesn't mean you won't get more info about what happened with Naruto and the rest of the characters during the month. More about that will be revealed during the last part of the Chunin Exams, that way those chapters won't be just fights and reactions to said fights**

**Now some of you might have wanted a completely detailed fight between Naruto and Anko, but considering that I just wrote nothing but fights last chapters and the next few ones will be mostly fights I wanted to take a break for at least this chapter. Yes Naruto defeated Anko, but do remember that Anko didn't use her most deadly techniques (for obvious reasons), that and Naruto had a big advantage over her, which was the factor of surprise, after all Naruto did went all out on her. If Naruto and Anko were to fight in the next few chapters (and Anko were to fight completely seriously) then the fight would definitely not be one sided**

**Yes, Pakura is alive on this one, and even serving Zeref. You guys might have wanted more interactions between Pakura/Zabuza/Haku and Naruto, and more of that (with more details about Naruto's training) will be showed in the next few chapters**

**Thanks to all of you guys for reading this fic! Last chapter had become the one with more reviews on this fic (well it tied with another character but whatever) with a total of 53! Thanks for the support!**

**Next Chapter: The Finals of the Chunin Exams begins**


	16. Show Your Worth! The Finals are here!

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

"Acnologia" Naruto" Normal speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**Chapter 14**

**Show Your Worth! The Finals are here!**

_Konoha, day of the Chunin Exam's finals_

The stadium that was going to be used for the finals was completely filled. It wasn't a surprise, considering the importance that this event held for not only the multiple villages that had Genins participating, but also for every person that wanted to see by firsthand the quality of the Shinobis and Kunoichis that each village could produce

In fact the only reason for the arena to be able to hold so many people was because it had been extended a few years back by orders of the Hokage, who not only wanted to make sure that as many people as possible could be able to watch this kind of event, but also so that Genins that held certain kind of techniques could use them without worrying about the area of use

After all this exams were to observe and judge if a Genin had what it took to be a Chunin, and if the judges weren't able to see all of their skills then what was the point?

At the middle of the arena there were fourteen Genins, all of them lined up just in front of the referee of the finals, one Uchiha Itachi.

Between those Genins there was the blonde known as Naruto, who was looking directly at the eldest Uchiha, not the least affected by the incredible amount of people that were on their seats, waiting anxiously for the fights to begin

Just to his right Uchiha Sasuki was alternating between looking at her sibling and glaring at the blonde, and Naruto had an idea about why she was mad at him now. Every since he had gotten here alongside the rest of the Genins Sasuki had been giving him a look that promised that an explanation was in order

Just by his left Mito was also stealing glances at the blonde, although hers were more filled with hope than everything else. Unlike her parents, Natsumi had actually told her about the day she had spent with their eldest sibling, and while it got Mito a little jealous by the fact that Natsumi had actually managed to spend time with him like that, she was also extremely relieved, since it seemed that her Nii-san wasn't pushing every member of their family away

Now if only she could get him to listen to her!

"You already know the rules. The fights will end once one of the contestants is either unable to continue, surrenders or dies, understood?" questioned the Uchiha, getting nods from all of the Genins

"Then everyone but Hyuga Neji and Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto please go to the designated area" said Itachi while pointing to the little balcony in which the Genins would watch the fights. All but two Genins nodded and started leaving the area, both Sasuki and Mito giving the blonde one last look, who's attention was now on no one but his opponent

"It seems I was correct in the end" said the Hyuga out of nowhere; getting a raised eyebrow from the blonde "the fact that you're my opponent just proved that your fate is to be below the rest of us, Namikaze"

His little declaration only got a shake of the head from the blonde, who's cold eyes were still looking directly at the white eyes of his opponent "There was a time in which I might have believed that too" Naruto's voice was just as soft as Neji's, only the Hyuga and Uchiha being able to hear him "However that changed a long time ago, I'm not going to chain myself with something like fate… and neither should you, Hyuga"

His words only got a glare from the elder Genin, who then put up his normal stance, signaling that the time to talk was over. Naruto followed him, also entering his stance, while Itachi looked at both Genins before addressing the whole stadium, his voice being magnified with chakra

"The first fight of the Chunin Exam's finals shall be between Hyuga Neji of Konoha, and Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto of Konoha" announced Itachi, making some people exited, other nervous while others interested by the start of the fight

"Are both fighters ready?" asked the black-haired man, getting nods from both Genins

"Then… Hajime!"

The Finals had begun

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Just before, with the Kages_

In a area that was just at the opposite side of where the rest of the Genins were watching the fight there was a special area designed for the four Kages that were watching the fight, three of them from other villages and the last one being the Hokage himself

In said balcony there were four seats, each already filled with their respective Kage. The seat at the far left was the one in which the current Kazekage, Rasa, was sitting, his whole body being covered by the robes normally used by a Kage to the point that you could only see his black eyes and a little bit of his aurburn hair

Just to his right there was the Hokage, Namikaze Minato, dressed in his normal clothes, his expression being one of calmness that hided the internal turmoil he was still feeling about his family, however he knew that right now it was for the Hokage to be present, not the father of three Genins, one of which he was sure that hated him

Just by Minato's right there sat the mighty form of A, the current Raikage, wearing his kage's robes loosely, showing his bulky body, and with an unreadable expression on his face

And last but not least to the Raikage's right there was the eldest of all the current Kages, one _**Ryōtenbin no Ōnoki (Onoki of Both Scales)**_, the current Sandaime Tsuchikage, his small form being covered by a green and yellow coat with a red collar, his expression also similar to his fellow Kages

Just behind every Kage there were two bodyguards for each one, all just standing there with their focus also on the arena. For Rasa one of the bodyguards was the sensei of the three Suna Genin pariticipating in the finals, Baki, while the other one was another Suna Shinobi wearing the normal Jonin outfit, with a veil covering must of his face

Behind A there were another two individuals; one was a fairly tall, dark-skinned man with a slightly bulbous nose, a lazy look in his eyes and shaggy, white hair which covers his left eye. He was wearing a high-collared, sleeveless uniform with loose fitting pants, bandages on his wrists and the one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket of a Kumogakure shinobi. He was also sporting two tattoes in each shoulder. This person's name was Darui

Just besides Darui there was another young man with short, blond hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a sleeveless black shirt with a one-strap-over-one-shoulder white flak jacket, black forehead protector, characteristic black, elbow-length arm-guards, and the red and white Kumogakure shin-guards along with a pair of sandals. This individual's name was C

Meanwhile behind Onoki there were of course also two individuals that worked as his bodyguards. One of them being a rather large and imposing man, with dark eyes and black hair that spikes out at the back from underneath his bandanna-styled forehead protector. He also had large cheeks, and a plump nose which give him an overall look of constant joviality. He was wearing the red Iwagakure uniform which has both its sleeves, underneath his flak jacket, and accentuates it with a yellow scarf which he wraps around his neck. This person was Akatsuchi

The other bodyguard had red hair, moustache and beard which tapered off to a point. He was wearing a large headpiece consisting of a three pointed crown-like ridge, bearing his Iwagakure forehead protector, a ring, and a prominent black piece of armour running across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He also wore a long-sleeved light-red shirt and pants, with mesh-armour shirt and fitted black suit underneath, along with calf-length sandals. Around his waist he wore a brown sash that held a brown armour-like breast plate with a pouch in the front, a brown back plate on the back that is connected to the front with mesh armour, and armoured lapels falling to the sides. This person was none other than Roshi, the jinchuriki of the Yonbi

And last but not least were two of the Sannins, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who were just behind their Kage, acting at his bodyguard for this event

"Having two of the legendary Sannins here alongside us, Hokage… don't you think that is going a little bit overboard?" asked the Onoki with a sideway glance towards Minato

"Maybe" agreed Minato, matching the look from the old Iwa leader "However I feared what might happen if I let someone like Jiraiya-sensei alone in an event like this, considering his… reputation" just behind the blonde Kage, Jiraiya released an uncomfortable chuckle at becoming the center of attention while by his side Orochimaru just released a sigh, doing his best to act like he didn't know the toad summoner

"Besides" Minato continued, this time his gaze becoming a lot sharper than before "shouldn't the same be said about you, Tsuchikage-san? Bringing a jinchuriki of all people here" If Roshi was affected by Minato's comment he didn't show it at all, while the Tsuchikage just waved his hand in front of him

"Please, the Kazekage here has his son, a jinchuriki too, here participating, and Raikage here actually brought _both_ of his Jinchurikis, the only difference is that they are in other places of this stadium, that doesn't make then any less harmful, does it?" Onoki shot back, getting stared from all of the present Kages

After that the place felt into an uncomfortable silence that no one bothered to change until Rasa decided to speak to his 'ally'

"It seems that one of the first Genins to fight will be one of your sons, Hokage-san" said the Kazekage, receiving a small nod from Minato, who was about to speak, but was beat it to the punch by A

"Yes, against a Hyuga no less" grunted the Raikage, getting a mocking chuckle from Onoki to his right

"Yes, yes, we all know about your little interest with the Byakugan, Raikage, you don't need to remind us of it" his comment earned a glare from the imposing leader of Kumo

"Who do you think will win, Hokage-san?" The Kazekage completely ignored the situation with the other two Kages and focused on his conversation with Minato, who looked like he was pondering his question for a moment before finally answering

"It would be hard to tell" admitted the blonde Kage, truly wondering who would win. While he truly wanted his son to win he still didn't the complete extent of his abilities, something that not even Kakashi knew. Not even that but for what he knew Hyuga Neji was nothing short of a problem, which meant that even if Naruto had been able to defeat Lee before he might not face a troublesome opponent

His response just got a nod from Rasa, who then went back to look at the center of the arena, Minato following his lead, his mind having only one thought

_Good luck, Naruto_

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile_

While the seats of the stadium were completely filled with either civilians or ninjas, there were a few groups of people that, even between the incredible groups of people, easily stood out, not only for their appearance and reputation, but also for the fact that some of them were in a group together

One of this group was one that was formed by none other than the heads of every clan from Konoha. They held two rows of seats, one with the man and the other one with the woman.

On the higher set of seats, from left to right there sat Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina, Uchiha Mikoto, Inuzuka Tsume, Nara Yoshino and Kurama Uroko. Not only that, but to Kushina's left there were two other seats, the one directly to her left was being used by her youngest daughter Natsumi, who looked quite exited, while the seat just beside the young girl was empty

On the row of seats just below that there were, from left to right, Hyuga Hiashi, Yamanaka Inoichi, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Choza, Uchiha Fugaku and Aburame Shibi. Just like with Kushina, to Hiashi's right there sat a young girl, none other than Hyuga Hanabi

While young Natsumi was practically bouncing on her seat because of the excitement, her mother was having an expression of nothing but worrynes directed at no one but her eldest child, who was about to fight his first fight in the Chunin Exams

Then a hand landed on her right shoulder, making Kushina turn in order to look at her long time friend, Uchiha Mikoto, who was giving her an understanding smile

"Don't worry so much, Kushina-chan" said the Uchiha matriarch with a soothing voice "I'm sure that Naruto-kun will be alright"

"But what if something happens to him! What if he gets hurt or, what if… what if…" Kushina couldn't even finish her sentence, the thought of one of her child dying being too much to bear for the violet-eyes Kunoichi

Mikoto for her part couldn't hide the shock from her expression; after all she had never heard her best friend talking like that. Her normal exuberant and happy voice was now as low as a whisper, and it was filled with such amount of dread, fear and pain that left the Uchiha speechless

Kushina couldn't help it though, she was after all _scared_. On the back of her mind she knew that her son was strong, after all she had seen him fighting before, however she still feared that something might happen to him just because she had never bothered to train him before like his siblings.

Not only that but all the plans of training him the past month, and also using that time to start fixing their broken relationship had gone to waste as soon as Naruto practically disappeared for the month. Her husband of course had send some people to search for him, however no clue of his whereabouts had been found

She had been completely relieved when she saw him alongside his fellow Genins today, but that didn't change the fact that she knew that her relationship with Naruto was as bad as it could get. She had already accepted that, but it didn't mean she would ever give up. Just like her husband she _knew _that there had to be some way for her to earn her son's forgiveness, she just needed to find out _how_

Both Kushina and Mikoto were taken out of their thoughts when Natsumi caught their attention, smiling brightly at them with confidence obvious on her blue eyes

"Don't worry, Kaa-chan!" said the girl excitedly, her gaze going from her mother to where her brother was "Onii-chan will win! I know it!"

Kushina looked at her daughter, definitely surprised by her little outburst. She didn't know why she had said that, after all Natsumi kept her word and didn't told her parents about the day she spent with Naruto, however in the end Kushina couldn't help but to smile at her youngest child lovingly just before kissing the top of her head, getting a confused expression from the girl

"Yes… you're right, Natsumi-chan, I'm sure that Naru-chan will do great" replied Kushina, getting a nod with a smile from the younger girl, who then went back to focus on her brother after all his fight was about to start

Kushina was truly grateful for her youngest daughter; after all it was her bright personality one of the few things that made Kushina smile every since she had realized what a terrible mother she had been with Naruto

The red-head went back to look at the arena, and just like her husband she also send a silent prayer to her son, wishing him the best of lucks

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" said a rather monotonous voice signaling to the free spot to Natsumi's left, getting every single Clan head's attention, after all it was weird for anyone to want to sit too close to them, probably because they were a rather intimidating group

Natsumi, Habani, Kushina, Hiashi and Mikoto were the ones that got a better glimpse of this person since they were the closer ones, however they couldn't get much since his whole body was covered, with his face also protected with a hood.

"y-yes, of course" answered Kushina, not having any reason to not let this person sit there, after all that spot was originally meant to be for Tsunade, but the slug Sannin ended up having to work today in case any of the Genins get a serious wound

The man nodded before simply sitting on the free spot, his arms crossed over his chest and his attention obviously on the arena like everybody else, however Kushina couldn't help but to observe the new comer a little more, feeling that something was definitely off with this person

"Hey mister" said Natsumi, getting the attention of both Kushina and the hooded man "What's your name?"

"Natsumi-chan!" reprimanded Kushina, understanding her daughter's curiosity but still thinking that it was a little rude to ask for an estranger's name like that

"Its ok" the hooded man said to Kushina, apparently not the least affected by Natsumi's sudden question, and then his attention went back to Natsumi, who was looking at him with a curious glint on her eyes "As for my name…"

Then the man actually lowered his hood, allowing every Clan head to see his face, and some of them were definitely surprised by what they saw. This man could easily pass as an Uchiha, with completely black hair, black carbon-like eyes and an expression devoid of emotions that would give Itachi a run for his money, especially considering the lack of emotions his voice had, even when revealing his name

"It´s Zeref"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile_

"Honestly I just hope Naruto kicks his ass!" exclaimed quite loudly one Inuzuka Kiba, wanting to see the bastard that had hurt a friend of his, Hinata, completely beaten

Another quite interesting group of people that were sitting together were all of the Konoha Genins that had manage to get pass the second task of the Chunin Exams, but that had been defeated during the preliminary rounds

They were not alone though, since alongside them there were their Jonins sensei, including Kakashi and Anko, whose whole team had passed the preliminary rounds

Even Rock Lee and Hinata were there, although everyone could see that they had yet to recover completely.

It looked like Kiba was about to say something else, however he was stopped by Ino, who slapped him at the back of his head and told him to be quiet since the fight was about to begin

Every single one of them had their attention on the soon to begin fight, a few of them more so than others, like Kakashi and Anko, who of course wanted to see their Genin in action, Rock Lee, who wanted to see the fight between the two people he considered were now his rival, and Hinata, who was definitely worried about the outcome of the fight between her cousin and crush

Kakashi for his part didn't even had his favorite book out, his mind having too many different thoughts for him to even think of reading. The reason for this was that after Naruto had disappeared he had finally asked his sensei about the details of the relationship between Naruto and his family, and to say that he was shocked would have been an understatement

He had always looked up to his sensei, and not only that but he had also believed that his family was the closest thing one would ever get to a perfect family, however all of those thoughts were easily crushed when he was told about the extent of Naruto's neglect

He had felt sick. He couldn't believe how his sensei and mentor, and the woman he had always saw as an older sister, could have acted that way towards their son. After that revelation he had simply stormed out of the office, not wanting to even be in the presence of both Minato and Kushina, and even after the search for Naruto had been stopped he kept looking for him everywhere, not wanting for the blonde Genin to be alone

He ended up being a little bit glad that both Minato and Kushina had decided that they would be the ones training their children for the Chunin Exams, after all Kakashi still didn't felt comfortable being in the same room like them. He had ended up helping with the training of his other student, Uchiha Sasuki, alongside the rest of her family; after all from all of them he was the only one that could actually teach her _**Raiton (Lightning Release)**_ techniques

The worst thing for Kakashi was that he knew that he was also to blame, after all while he had always been there for Menma, Mito and Natsumi and was like an older brother to them, he had never had that same relationship with Naruto, and he knew it was his own fault and no one else

Before he had wanted to correct that mistake, but now? He _knew _that he had to make amends with the blonde, and the only thing he could hope for was that it wasn't too late already

'I won't let you down again, Naruto-kun' thought the silver-haired Jonin, his expression hidden but remorse overflowing his very being 'Never again'

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, in the rooftop on the Stadium_

Out of the sight of everyone there was one individual sitting on the edge of what could be considered the highest point of the stadium, his red eyes shining with nothing but excitement.

This person was none other than the servant of the Shinigami known as Alcor

"**Finally I'll be able to see by first hand your progress, Naruto-kun**" muttered the white-haired man, completely ignoring the amount of sound that the people below him where making, his complete focus on no one but the blonde mage. He didn't even care about Zeref being here, who even though was hiding his power so well that you would think he was nothing but a civilian, was still like a shining light in a dark room for Alcor, thanks to certain mark that the dark mage had branded on the back of his palm

"**Now let's see if bringing you back was worth the trouble, Zeref-kun"** once again muttered the red-eyes servant, whose eyes then wandered for a moment to no other than Menma, who was clearly visible from Alcor's spot, his normal smile widening just by a fraction

"**Yes… this is definitely going to be interesting enough"**

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Back with Naruto and Neji_

As soon as Itachi announced the start of the fight, Neji dashed at Naruto, intending to end the fight as fast as he could

The Hyuga aimed his attack at Naruto's chest, his Byakugan of course already activated. However just before the attack landed Naruto moved slightly, barely evading the attack, and before Neji could even do anything else a fist crashed against his cheek, sending the Hyuga spiraling to the ground

Neji stood up, spitting the blood that he had on his mouth and glaring at his blonde opponent, who was simply standing there, looking at him with an unreadable expression, completely unaffected by the Hyuga's glare

Neji took a deep breath, not wanting to let his emotions to get the better of him, and then once again dashed at Naruto, who was already ready for his attack

The pale-eyed Genin tried his best to land a hit on Naruto, using the tip of his fingers instead of his palm which made his already dangerous _**Juken (Gentle Fist)**_ even more deadly. Sadly for him none of his quick attacks managed to land since Naruto was able to either dodge or deflect the attacks by using his hand, moving even faster than Neji

Then Naruto went to the offensive, and Neji soon found out that he wasn't the more dangerous when it came to hand on hand fighting. This time instead of just evading the attack Naruto quickly grabbed Neji's right wirst after dodging and quick planted his fist on Neji's solar plexus, getting the Hyuga to gasp in pain

Neji didn't let his pain stop him though, and with his teeth gritted he tried to attack Naruto with his other hand, however the blonde acted first, charging his hand that was holding Neji's wrist with electricity, which of course was sent to the Hyuga's arm

Neji grunted in pain, feeling the electricity going through his arm, which made him lose his focus on his attack long enough for the blonde to hit him again, this time with another fist aimed directly at his jaw, then the blonde quickly released Neji's hand, and before the brown-haired Genin could react Naruto gave him a palm strike charged with lightning straight to his chest, strong enough to send the Hyuga a few feats back and to the ground

"Tell me, Hyuga Neji" Neji was on the ground, doing his best to ignore the pain he was feeling and the strange numbness that his right hand now had, however he couldn't stop Naruto's voice from reaching his ears "where is your fate now? Weren't you the one saying that it was my destiny to lose against someone like you?"

Neji slowly stood up, a little bit relieved by the fact that Naruto hadn't attacked him while he was down. When he finally mamanaged to stand he just glared at the blonde, who was still just looking at him with the same unreadable expression that he had been sporting every since the fight started

"Stop talking as if you knew everything, Namikaze!" hissed Neji, giving Naruto a Byakugan enhanced glare, which only got a raised eyebrow from the blonde

"Then why don't you explain it then, Hyuga?" shot back Naruto, surprising Neji. The blonde couldn't help it though. For some reason the hate that was clearly visible in Neji's eyes has struck a nerve on the blonde mage. Originally he wanted nothing but just beat the Hyuga, but that had changed in the past month

Before he had just wanted to take down Neji in the fight and simply move on, not really caring at all about the Hyuga's motivation, however the more he thought about the Hyuga the more he started to see the similarities between them. Neji had obvious animosity towards his family, just like Naruto had with his former family, but on the blonde's eyes it looked like Neji was walking a path that would bring him nothing in the end and during the last month Naruto had understood what the key difference between Neji and him was probably

He had someone

He didn't know much about the Hyuga, so he wasn't completely sure, but it was the best theory Naruto had managed to cook up. He had Zeref to help him deal with the dark emotions on his heart, while Neji probably had no one there to help him with his, and as Naruto knew that could easily bring a lot of issues for everyone involved

But he wanted to _know_ more. He actually wanted to understand Hyuga Neji. Why? Because now every time he thought about the Hyuga it was a reminder of how he could have ended if Zeref had never appeared on his life. His sensei had helped him, and now he wanted to see if he could help Neji. He didn't know if actually could, but he was at least still going to try

Neji just glared at him, not knowing what kind of game Naruto was playing. For a few seconds they did nothing but stare at each other until ever so slowly Neji untied his forehead protector, allowing Naruto to see what looked like a seal on the Hyuga's forehead

"Is because of this that I accepted my destiny" said Neji just before telling Naruto about his childhood. About how the Hyuga clan was divided in two houses, the Main one and the Branch one, he then went on about how his father had been killed just in order to protect his brother and Neji's uncle, the current head of the clan, simply because it was his _fate_ to protect the Main house with his life

"We can't escape our fate!" continued the Hyuga, not caring that practically everyone else in the stadium was listening to his words "My father couldn't, and nobody else can! Since the moment of our birth we're already destined to either triumph or simply be below everybody else!"

Some people were truly affected by Neji's words, between them the Hokage himself, who actually looked down in shame for not being able to find another solution to the event that leaded to Neji's father death, and even Hyuga Hiashi looked down, in his mind asking forgiveness to his brother and vowed to reveal the complete truth to Neji as soon as he got the chance

Meanwhile Naruto just looked at Neji, finally understanding a little bit more about the Hyuga, however understanding it was not the same to liking it, something that became obvious with Naruto's next words

"You're wrong" stated the blonde "You're just blaming fate because is easier, isn't it? It's easier to believe that we have no choice, and that our live is already decided, however I can't and I won't accept that" his words just got a powerful glare from Neji

"And what would you know?! You're just there, talking like you're some kind of expert! Tell me then, what would you, son of the Hokage, know about fate?! About knowing that no matter what you do, you will always be nothing but a servant to those above you?!" Neji practically yelled his words, and those that knew him were definitely surprised, after all it was truly a weird sight to see him losing his cool like that

Naruto just lowered his gaze for a moment, apparently deep in thought, and Neji was about to take advantage of his opponent distracted state to attack, however he was stunned as soon as Naruto's eyes locked with his once again. Instead of the cold eyes he usually had, this time there was only one thing on Naruto's dark blue eyes that left Neji wondering about the blonde

Understanding

"I know because I once thought just like you, Neji" Naruto's voice was softer now, to the point that only Neji was able to hear him "I once thought that I was destined to be nothing but the forgotten shadow of everybody I knew…" He was not lying, he had truly felt that way just before meeting Zeref "However there was someone that showed me that I was wrong, someone that showed me that even someone like me can go beyond stuff like _fate_, and that the only destiny that I have is the one that I set for myself" Neji was left speechless by the blonde's words, and for just that second he felt the believes that he had been holding for years wavering

Then the blonde once again went to his fighting instance just after saying some final words to his opponent that everyone was actually able to hear "And now I'm going to break that illusion of yours, Hyuga Neji, even if I have to beat you to a bloody pulp in order to do so"

Knowing that the time for talks had been over Neji got ready to move against Naruto, however the blonde had decided to change the rules of the fight that until now had been nothing but Taijutsu, and quickly moved backwards before using what everyone believed was a _**Raiton (Lightning Release)**_ technique

"_**Rairyu no Hōkō (Lighting Dragon's Roar)**_!" from his mouth a powerful blue lightning beam was shot directly at Neji at an impressive speed, however the Hyuga was not considered a genius for nothing, and as soon as the technique was launched Neji had already started with his own technique

"_**Hakkeshō Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven)**_" Neji started spinning around, his whole body releasing chakra, creating what could only be describes as a spinning dome around him, truly shocking every Hyuga that was watching the fight, after all that technique was something someone like Neji should not be able to use

The lightning beam impacted with Neji's defense, however the Hyuga's technique managed to block it completely, surprising Naruto a little bit

'I guess it should not be a surprise, after all a big clan like the Hyugas must have more than one secret technique' thought the blonde, wanting to test defensive technique. Deciding to test the techniques limits Naruto quickly went through a set of hand seals before using one of the techniques Pakura had taught him

"_**Fūton: Shinkūgyoku (Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere)**_!" Naruto took a deep breath before releasing a spherical bullet made of wind at least twice as bigger is his head, its objective being no one but Neji

The Hyuga saw this though, and as soon as he stopped his defensive technique he used it once again, managing to block Naruto's technique just like before

'This will get me nowhere' thought Naruto, not wanting to spent a lot of magic or show a lot of his techniques in just the first fight. The blonde dashed at Neji, already knowing that when it came to Taijutsu he was still stronger, even if Neji had his Byakugan backing him up

Neji of course saw this, and quickly got ready to use his next technique, which he used as soon as the blonde entered his area

With more speed that Naruto thought possible from him, Neji sprung into action, quickly reaching the blonde and releasing a series of attacks, intending to defeat Naruto once and for all

"Two!"

"Four!"

"Eight!"

"Sixteen!"

"Thirty-two!"

"_**Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)**_!" whit each word coming from Neji's mouth a series of hits where landed on Naruto's body at such a speed and precision that even Naruto had problem dodging any of them, allowing the majority of them to land directly on his body.

With the last hit Neji expected for the blonde to fall on his back completely defeated, after all he had just closed his chakra network in a way that he should not be able to even stand, let alone fight, but unknown to Neji his opponent's body had stopped depending on chakra to function, instead using a form of energy that this world had barely seen

Which is why the Hyuga was not able to act fast enough against Naruto's final attack, since as soon as Neji had ended his own technique Naruto had gone with his, a simple lightning covered uppercut that impacted directly with Neji's chin, lifting him from the ground just before he crashed against it again on his back with a thud

Naruto cursed himself mentally for his mistake, after all in his attempt to finish the fight fast enough he had left Neji use a technique on him, and if the blonde remembered something from Neji's fight against Hinata was that he could easily close the tenketsu points on someone's body, which was probably was he had just done to him with his technique, after all Naruto could _feel_ that his chakra was not flowing through his body like it normally did

However right now he could not be more thankful for his magic, after all it had been a long time since his body had relied in just his chakra. He had an idea of what might be the effects of Neji's technique in a normal person since blocking the way chakra flowed through someone's body could easily cripple, but for him who had a second source of energy that kept his body going the only thing he was feeling was nothing but uncomfortable sensation alongside with some pain, something that he would have to fix soon

Meanwhile Neji was now lying on his back, his eyes half-opened and his teeth grinding against each other in frustration. Was he really going to lose like this? He wanted to stand up and keep fighting, but there wasn't any more strength on his body. He had never felt weaker. Was this really how long he would get? Was his fate to always be below everyone else?

Neji's focus went to his blonde opponent who was now standing just beside him, looking down at him with an unreadable expression. For a moment Neji felt like swearing, insulting him or even try to attack him from this position, but in the end only one sentence escaped his lips

"How can you be so strong?"

Naruto heard his question easily, and then surprising Neji he actually kneeled besides him, his voice low enough so that only Neji would hear him

"I'm strong because someone showed me that I _could_ be strong" said Naruto, his blue eyes looking directly at Neji's white ones "I had someone that was there for me when nobody else was, that showed me that I could be much more than everyone ever thought, and that the only _destiny_ I had was the one that I set for myself… I owe him everything, and it's thanks to him that I'm here"

Neji was definitely left speechless by Naruto's words, not only for the words themselves, but also for the emotions that Naruto had just showed. In the end Neji could not say anything else, the believes that he had been following every since his father's death were now crumbling in his mind because of Naruto. He needed time to think, to come to terms with himself. His mind was a mess, and in the end he only gave the blonde a simple response

"I see…"

Then it was like someone gave everyone a signal because the whole stadium exploded in cheers. Everyone was either clapping, yelling or just smiling excitedly, and while there were a few people here and there that just glared at Naruto for his victory they remained in silence, not being brave enough to express their dislike for the blonde

Naruto watched at a group of medic-nins took Neji away, wondering if his words had been in any way helpful to his fellow Genin, the cheers from the crowd still clearly around him, but he was still able to hear Itachi's announcement perfectly

"Winner: Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto!"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With the Kages_

"Truly an interesting fight, although I daresay a little one-sided" the Kazekage was the first one to comment while looking at the rest of his fellow Kages

For his part Minato could not hide the proud smile that was now plastered on his face. Even if he hadn't help Naruto at all he still couldn't help but to feel pride for his son's victory. He was also relieved; after all it definitely looked like his son had not been wasting his time during the training month

"Indeed. One would think that a Hyuga would have the advantage in taijutsu, however it looks like your son was too much for him, Hokage" said Onoki, looking down at Naruto with mild interest, after all his granddaughter had definitely not kept quiet whenever the theme of the son of the Hokage that had humiliated back in the second task appeared in a conversation

"Yes, not only that but that Hyuga boy has more than one psychological issue that could easily cost the lives of a team if he were to lead him, something that a Chunin should not have" grunted A, the Raikage, his eyes making wholes at the back of Naruto's head, after all his brother had told him how the blonde's _**Raiton (Lightning Release) **_were completely different about anything he had seen, and now he could understand why, after all spitting lightning like it was a beam was definitely _not_ common, let alone covering your body with electricity, something that A had believed only he was able to do

"And I wonder why that might be" Minato couldn't help it and shot that comment while looking sharply at the Raikage, who just returned the stare with a glare of his own. It was after all no secrets that the only relationship that was worse than the one between Konoha and Iwa was the one between Konoha and Kumo

"I have to say that your son, Naruto, has definitely showed an interesting set of skills, and I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking that we had barely seen the tip of the iceberg" Rasa was quick to comment, trying to stop whatever type of situation that might start because of the other Kage's words

However his comment was met with nothing as Minato and A kept glaring at each other until Onoki released a big laugh, drawing everyone's attention to him

"Are you two going to start bickering like children or something?" asked Onoki with a smirk, getting a simple stare from Minato and another glare from A "But you're correct there, Kazekage. That blonde kid gave us a good show; however his fight was hard from being perfect"

"He will surprise you all" said Minato, getting stared from everyone "Naruto-kun is someone that never stops surprising everyone around him, and I'm sure you will not be an exception"

"Too much confidence in your son there, Minato?" this comment came from A, but he only got a small smirk from his blonde rival

"You'll see" were the only words that Minato said, his blue eyes going back to the center of the stadium

Just behind him Jiraiya released a sigh, wondering if the Kages were going to fight each other at every opportunity they could get

"Politics" muttered Orochimaru, his words reaching every other bodyguard making them nod, truly wishing that their respective Kages stopped acting like little kids

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile_

Surprise, shock and disbelief were the expression showed by the teammates and senseis of Neji, who had of course believed that the genius Genin would at least win his first fight, and yet he had ended up losing quite badly against Naruto

"See?! I told you that Naruto-kun would definitely win!" said Ino to Tenten, who just before the beginning of the fight had said that Naruto had no chance of defeating Neji, which of course had already been proven wrong

Even if the Jonin already knew that Naruto was more than what meets the eye, they still couldn't help but feel surprised by how one-sided the whole fight had felt, especially since his opponent, Neji, had been considered one of the strongest Genin in the current Exams

For her part Hinata just smiled, glad that not only her crush was won, but also that her cousin was not heavely injured, although one thing that had definitely surprised not only her but also the Jonins that knew how the Hyuga's fought was that even after being hit by Neji's _**Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms) **_he had still being able to easily stand and fight, something that should not have been possible

Kakashi was also smiling, happy that Naruto had managed to reach the second round, and hoping that in the end he got that Chunin promotion

Meanwhile with her group Kushina couldn't help but release a relieved sigh before smiling, happy that her son had won her fight. Just by her side Natsumi was bouncing on her seat while grinning, definitely exited and happy by her brother's victory

Every clan head were showing different expressions, with the exception of Hiashi who had already left, apparently wanting to have words with his nephew

"I told he was going to be fine, Kushina-chan" said Mikoto to the red-head in a teasing tone "honestly you worry too much sometimes. It's not like Naruto-kun would even be here if he wasn't strong enough"

"Yes, I know… but still" Kushina scratched the back of her head while blushing a little bit in embarrassment

"Oi! Kushina" from Mikoto's side a loud voice got everyone's attention, belonging to no one but the Inuzuka matriarch and clan leader, Inuzuka Tsume "Your pup got some good movements there! Never seen that lightning technique before though. Who thought him that? Minato or Kakashi?" asked Tsume, truly curious about her friend's son. Her words of course got everyone attention, who where know looking at Kushina with interest

"Well, I… you know…" Kushina was definitely a bad liar, and she had no idea from where had her son learned those techniques he had showed. Even her daughter and Hiashi's younger child was now looking at her, waiting for her answer.

However said answer ended up coming from someone else, or to be more precise the black haired man that was sitting on Natsumi's left

"Those are long lost techniques from a clan that was destroyed during the First Shinobi World War" commented the man known as Zeref, surprising Kushina and getting everyone's attention to him

"And how would you know that exactly?" asked Fugaku, not even bothering to hide the suspicious from his voice, although he was immediately silenced when Zeref's black eyes looked directly at his own for a moment just before he looked at Kushina's violet eyes, who was looking at the estrange man with a frown on her face

"You would be surprised about what you can discover when you search long enough" said Zeref just before his gaze went to the arena again, his face once again covered by the hood of his cloak

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Alcor_

'**Oh Naruto-kun, if only you knew how much of your life has been already planned… you would certainly think different, wouldn't you?**' thought the white-haired man while releasing an amused chuckle, his red eyes following Naruto who was now walking towards the stairs that connected the arena with the place in which the rest of the Genins were

"**I guess I'll have to wait a little longer to be able to see exactly how strong you are, Naruto-kun**" said Alcor, disappointed but not surprised by the fact that the Hyuga had not been able to draw Naruto's true strength

"**Oh well, patience is virtue, isn't it?"**

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Yes I know, short chapter, but while I could have gone with half the fights of the first round in this chapter I decided to just use it as a start with the classis (or is it overused by now?) Naruto vs Neji**

**Now I know some of you want Naruto to forgive his family since his neglect is the Shinigami's fault, and that others don't want him to forgive them. The only thing I'll say is that the relationship between Naruto and his family will change overtime. It might get better, just as it might get worse (yeah that's actually possible)**

**Now it seems that you're all know hating Alcor, and even think that he's the bad guy so I want to explain some stuff quickly about him. There are two important things with Alcor. The first one being that he's completely loyal to the Shinigami and no one else, and the second is that right now he's a twisted man; with set views of how humans work (I guess you could say he's a little OOC). He will go to great lengths to make sure that his master's wishes are accomplished, and yes, he had no problem with manipulating or killing people to do that, although he's not one to kill, it doesn't mean he won't do it. Will he kill Natsumi? Will he do something to her? I'm just going to say that he will try**

**I know the fight was one-sided, but don't worry, Naruto will get his challenges in this tournament (most of you should have already guessed exactly how)**

**Thanks to you all for reading this chapter! I'll try to get the next one a little bit sooner, but since I'm going to update my other two fics it might take a little while**

**Next Chapter: The rest of the 1****st**** round fights!**


	17. Round One: A Genin's Strength Part One

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

"Acnologia" Naruto" Normal speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

**Chapter 15**

**Round One: A Genin's Strength Part One**

_With Naruto_

'I should have known…' thought the blue-eyed mage, his gaze directed at none other than the obviously angry form of his best friend, Uchiha Sasuki

He was now inside the pathway that led to where the other Genins where watching the fights, but he could not go and join his fellow Genin since Sasuki was now blocking his path, her Sharingan activated and her eyes looking straight at his

Any other person would have called Naruto a fool for looking at an Uchiha straight at her eyes, especially when she even had the Sharingan activated, but he trusted his friend almost as much as he trusted Zeref, so he had no issue with facing Sasuki like this

They were completely alone since the other Genins were where they should be while the next two fighters, namely Kankuro and Kurotsuchi, had already went pass them, with Kankuro ignoring the situation while Kurotsuchi openly glared at both of them, but mostly on Naruto than Sasuki

That had made the blonde to sigh mentally, after all if she won her fight then that meant she would be fighting him in the next round and he had a feeling that he would not be able to win without some injuries against the Iwa Kunoichi

But back on the matter at hand

"What's up?" Naruto greeted lamely, not knowing what else to say right now and feeling that if he said the wrong thing he might have to stay away from the Uchiha girl for his own safety

Especially since that Tanto she now had strapped to her waist was definitely not for decoration

The worst thing was that he didn't even know why she was mad now. It's not like he could have done anything to upset her since he hadn't even see her in the past month…

"Where the hell were you?!" the Uchiha hissed, her arms crossed over her chest while glaring at Naruto

Then realization came to the blonde's mind. He now remembered how badly Sasuki had reacted when he had _disappeared_ for a whole week some months ago, and just based on that and the girl's question he could now guess why she was mad at him

He had disappeared once again without telling her anything only that this time it had been for a whole month and not just a week. He of course had felt bad about just leaving to train without telling her, but he had assumed that since Sasuki would be training too that her focus would be on that and not him to the point that she would not even notice him missing

Apparently he had been wrong

But what could he tell her? That he had been training in _**Tetsu no Kuni (Land of Iron) **_with people that served his sensei, who was a mage from another dimension? He did want to tell her the truth since Sasuki was the only other person that Naruto truly trusted besides Zeref, but he just didn't know how to do it or what might happen if he did

"I was training" he answered, doubting but also hoping that it would be enough for Sasuki

It wasn't, and it easily showed in the expression she had now

"That's obvious" the black-eyed girl hissed while walking closer to the blonde, her Sharingan still activated "And you know exactly what I meant! Where the hell where you?! No one knew were you where! I thought you would be training with either Anko or Kakashi but you just disappeared...again" Sasuki all but yelled at Naruto, the last part being as low as a whisper but the blonde mage was easily able to hear it

Then both Genins just looked at each other in the eyes, Sasuki waiting for some sort of answer while Naruto was thinking in what to say while showing no expression

However his lack of answer was more than enough for Sasuki who practically growled at him before turning around, her arms falling to her side

"You said that we were friends" the Uchiha said while she had her back to Naruto "But what's the point if you don't even trust me! You keep hiding everything from me…forget it" she ended up abruptly and started walking towards the stairs that connected the lower area with the higher area in which the rest of the Genins were, her angry expression turned into a hurt one

Wasn't she supposed to be his friend? Then why was it that sometimes she felt that she didn't know him at all? She knew he had secrets and she couldn't blame him since everyone had, including her, but for her it now felt as if he didn't trust her at all

It's not like she wanted to know where he was every hour of every day, but she was tired of him just going missing like that. She was tired of him hiding so many things from her. She wanted to know, she wanted to understand _him_. Before she had just felt frustrated but now she felt like he was pushing her away, and she definitely didn't like that

It was a new feeling for her too, to care so much for someone like that. Sure she loved her family dearly, but that and whatever she actually felt for her blonde friend were completely different.

She didn't even know that she actually felt _something_ for him a month ago, but two interesting conversation that she had a few weeks ago had made her start questioning how she truly felt for one Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto to the point that she actually spent entire nights thinking about it.

Thinking about him

And the result was both frightening and infuriating

She had felt vulnerable every time she thought about how she felt towards her blonde friend. Not only that but she had felt scared about it too. In her own opinion she should not be feeling like that towards him! He was her friend and nothing else!

She refused to put a name to this stupid thing she was feeling. In her opinion it was something that it would disappear after a few days, maybe a week or two but she was sure it would be gone soon

She _knew_ she had to be right, even though her Okaa-sama thought otherwise to the point of giving her knowing smiles every time she saw her now, but her stubborn mind always repeated the same thing over and over, almost like a mantra at this point

She didn't have a crush on Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto!

There was something that Sasuki didn't notice as a result of her words though, and that was the panicked expression that Naruto now had

He was facing the back of the black-haired girl with his opened wide in shock. He already knew that she was angry at him, but to the point of questioning their friendship? Did she actually think that he didn't trust her? He wanted to tell her that she was wrong, that she was one of the most important people on his life, that she was his first friend and that she, alongside Zeref, had saved him from a lonely existence

But the words died on his mouth, and in the end his body practically moved on instincts. He moved quickly and grabbed her wrist with his hand, making the girl to turn around and look at him directly at his eyes

Both teenagers where now in another stand-off, both looking at each other's eyes, different thoughts going through their heads

Naruto was trying to think on any way to solve this situation. He would have definitely preferred to not have to deal with something like this in a place like this, but since he knew exactly how impatient the black-haired Uchiha could be he guessed that he should not be surprised, but what could he tell her?

Of course a part of him wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to tell her the true, he honestly did but there was something that was stopping him from doing it, and that was the trust Zeref had on him

His sensei had told him to never real not only his existence but also any details about magic itself, and if there was something that Naruto never wanted to break was his sensei's trust on him, but what could he do now? Sasuki was obviously not only upset but also hurt by all of his secret, which he could now see in her eyes even though she was doing her best to hide it

Lying to her would probably make everything worse, and he didn't want to have to lie to her more than he already was, but he couldn't just tell her the true like that, at least without Zeref's permission

There was also the matter of his former family and the treatment he got from some villagers. That was one theme that the blonde truly didn't want to discuss with _anyone_. He hadn't even talked about it with his sensei and father figure.

Sure, he knew that Zeref already knew about all of that since he had let it quite clear in the past but actually talking about it with someone else just made Naruto remember how weak and hopeless he had felt at those times, and that was something that the blonde wanted to never feel again

For her part Sasuki was waiting anxiously for the blonde to say something, and even though he sometimes could act just like her Onii-sama, this was one of the few times in which Sasuki was able to see just exactly was Naruto was feeling just by looking at him in the eyes. She could now see the inner conflict he had and that just made her even more interested in whatever Naruto was hiding from her

"I can't tell you right now…" were Naruto's first words, which immediately got a glare from Sasuki who almost yanked her hand from Naruto's grip, but she stopped once she saw that Naruto wasn't done talking "but I promise that I will tell you everything I can soon… I promise" the blonde repeated once again, hoping that Sasuki would believe him

Of course he would have to ask Zeref for permission first before revealing her anything, but he believed that if he made a good enough argument he could get for Zeref to agree with him.

He also knew that even if he got his sensei's approval he would still have to tell Sasuki a story that seemed taken out of a fairy tale. He was not sure if she would even believe him, which was another thing that made him worry whenever he thought about revealing the truth to his friend, but he knew that he had to at least try, after all Sasuki deserved at least that much

The two members of Team 7 were left in another quite stare contest, only that this time it was Naruto the one waiting for an answer from Sasuki, who was looking straight at his eyes, apparently looking for something

And it looked like she found it since after a few more seconds of waiting the Uchiha ended up releasing a sigh before speaking

"Fine… I'll hold you on that promise you blonde baka, but you better not be lying to me!" Sasuki's glare came back full force, even though she could clearly see the pure sincerity in Naruto's eyes. Not only that but she also knew how Naruto was with promises so she guessed that she could wait a little longer for that explanation

Just a little though

"You know that I never break a promise, Sasuki" Naruto declared, wanting to make sure that Sasuki understood that he wasn't neither joking nor lying

"I know, I know, geez…" the Uchiha said while shaking her head and releasing another sigh "It's just that I don't like when you hide stuff from me" the last part was said with a voice that was barely higher than a whisper with her head lowered

"Sasuki…" the blonde muttered, his enhanced hearing making him able to hear Sasuki's last words

The black-eyed girl looked up, her gaze once again meeting Naruto's. It was only now that she realized exactly how close the two were from one another

They were extremely close, to the point that if one of them moved their heards a little bit their nose would be touching, their eyes firmly set on one another

Sasuki's heart was now hammering against her chest, a blush appearing on her cheeks. She was trying to do her best to both calm herself down and to look at anywhere else besides those deep blue-eyes of him, but she found herself being unable to do any of those things

She mentally cursed both her Okaa-sama and her teammate Mito for making her think so much about her feelings for her blonde friend, after all she believed that if she hadn't she would now not be so affected by whatever feeling had made itself present in her heart

"What are you two doing?" however a voice coming from the stairs took both Genins out of their moment, getting both of them to look up to whoever had called them

It was none other than Mito, who was now standing at the top of the stairs, her eyes focused on both on them with a glare

Naruto did what he do best and hided his emotions behind a cold mask while Sasuki openly glared at Mito, her black eyes meeting Mito's violet ones, making Naruto wonder if something had happened between the two of them, after all while he remembered that the two of them were not exactly the best of friend the tension he was feeling right now was way too much for just that

Sasuki was about to talk but she was distracted by how Mito's eyes dropped from her to the space between her and Naruto. She also noticed how her glare became darker and how both her hand were in tight fists

She followed her gaze by simply curiosity, managing to look at whatever had Mito so angry, and that ended up being nothing but the fact that both she and Naruto were still holding hands…

Wait, what?!

"That's not your problem!" Sasuki barked out, quickly yanking her hand away from Naruto's grip and doing her best to stop the blush that once again was spreading on her face

For his part Naruto was surprised by the fact that he was now missing the soft sensation of Sasuki's hand on his own, but he just shook his head slightly, wanting to free his head from such a confusing sensation

"We were just talking" Naruto also gave his answer, although in a much calmer way than Sasuki's

Mito's glare turned into a kind smile so quickly that Naruto actually wondered if she had been even mad in the first place

"C'mon Onii-san!" the red-head smiled lovingly at the blonde, completely ignoring the raven-haired girl that was glaring fiercely at her and getting a raised eyebrow from Naruto "You're going to miss all the other fights at this rate!"

Naruto just nodded at her just before looking at Sasuki who just huffed in annoyance before going up the stairs and passing Mito, making sure of bumping her shoulder with the red-head, another thing that Naruto also noticed

He decided to not comment on it though, thinking that it would be best if he did it _after_ this whole Chunin Exams thing was finally over, after all having too much stuff in one's head could easily mess up a fight, and considering the place they were he just decided that there had to be a better place and time to talk about whatever was now affecting the two members of Team 7

The trio of Genin finally reached the top of the stairs, which ended in a big enough balcony that hosted every other Genin that was participating in the finals

As soon as they entered they quickly became the center of attention of every other Genin there, getting looks that went from uninterested to curious, but the trio of Genin simply ignored the looks and moved forward with Naruto going over the railing that the balcony had, both Sasuki and Mito following him and standing at his right and left respectably

"What happened?" Menma said to his sister once he got over to where she was in a whisper, only getting a shush from the red-head, who right now was more interested in seeing the rest of the fight since she had gone to look for both her teamates

But sadly for the trio of newcomers the only thing they were greeted with was the sound of exited clapping and yells from the crowd while a perfectly looking Kurotsuchi stood over a kneeling and painting Kankuro, who was surrounded by multiple broken pieces of wood

Not only that but it definitely looked like the arena had faced some powerful techniques since the place not only was now sporting multiple holes here and there, but there was also plenty of evidence that one of the two fighters, and Naruto had the striking feeling that it was the Iwa Kunoichi, had used at least _**Doton (Earth Release)**_ techniques, something that would not surprise the blonde since he knew that that type of techniques were common from Iwa nin

However he now had the disadvantage of knowing practically nothing of his next opponent's skills, while the girl had seen him fight twice, not counting their little meeting back in the Forest of Death

Of course he would not said anything about that, after all he had the feeling that complaining about it would start a fight between Sasuki, Mito and him at the middle, with Menma probably making stupid comments here and there

He felt half tempted to ask someone else that had watched the fight, like Shikamaru for example, for information, but in the end he just decided to not ask, thinking that no one there had any real obligation about sharing information with him

He would have to just wait for his own fight and then make a strategy on the moment. Not his favorite thing to do but it wasn't something that he was unable to do anyway

"I surrender!" finally the voice of Kankuro resounded in the stadium. The Suna Genin looked worse to wear, and considering how the situation itself looked like Naruto was not surprised at all

"Winner: Kurotsuchi!" Itachi announced shortly after, getting more claps from the audience, especially those that came from Iwa to see the grandchild of their Kage

Meanwhile the Iwa Kunoichi just smirked proud fully at her victory. She sent a look at her grandfather, receiving nothing but a small nod and an unnoticeable smirk

Then she turned around and looked up, her eyes now looking directly at Naruto's. The Iwa Kunoichi was actually expecting to see a glint of nervousness or even fear in the mages eyes; however what she didn't know was that Naruto had not been able to see anything from her fight

The blonde, not knowing why the girl was looking at him like that, did the only thing that he could think off right there that wasn't overly rude and just waved slight at her with his hand. That was quickly proved to be the wrong thing to do though, since just after he did that Kurotsuchi's glare came back even stronger, while a thick mark made itself present on her forehead

Then both Genins moved out of the field, Kankuro going over where everyone else was watching the fights while Kurotsuchi returned to the balcony, thinking that Naruto had just made fun of her once again and plotting how to humiliate him in front of everyone in their next fight

She would definitely going to make that son of the Hokage to pay for humiliating her so much

The fact in that way he was the son of the man that cost Iwa the war was just an added bonus

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With the Kages_

"Ho… I was expecting a little bit more considering how _famous_ Suna is when it comes to users of the _**Kugutsu no Jutsu (Puppet Technique)**_" commented the Tsuchikage, his eyes observing the Kazekage almost lazily "Then again I guess I should not have expected so much considering who he was fighting against"

If the Kazekage was in the least affected by Onoki's words he didn't show it at all. Instead he just looked at where all the other Genin where, or to be more precise at where his youngest son was

He honestly didn't care that much about what his elder son and daughter did since as long as Gaara was there he was sure that there wasn't any other Genin there that could defeat him.

He knew that the other two Jinchuriki that Konoha had might actually be a treat to Gaara, but he was confident enough in his jinchuriki's abilities

"I have to wonder though…" Minato spoke, gaining the other kage's attention "we saw your granddaughter's _**Doton (Earth Release)**_ techniques, but does she posses the _**Jinton (Dust Release) **_that you have, Tsuchikage-san?" of course the blonde Hokage really doubted that, but considering that the next opponent of the girl was his son he couldn't help but to wonder if he was going to face something as powerful as _**Jinton (Dust Release)**_

It was obvious that everyone besides those of Iwa were curious about Onoki's answer, but the old Kage just grinned at them with a glint on his eyes "Who knows? She might have it, or maybe she doesn't… or maybe she has something even better. The point is that I can't guarantee your son's safety, Hokage" those last words were obviously directed at Minato, who just gave the older Iwa nin a cold glance

Minato was not worried though. He had the utmost trust in Naruto, even though he didn't know exactly how strong he was he now knew that he was no ordinary Genin, after all the way he had managed to defeat both Rock Lee and Hyuga Neji, who was hailed as a prodigy between prodigies, showing that he had skills that went far beyond of what a Genin should have

The question about how he had gotten so strong still plagued the Hokage's mind since he was sure that Naruto had not just trained by himself. He would have to ask his son the next time he got time, but this time he would not accept a no for an answer, even if it meant having to order him to reveal every detail not only about his strength but who had taught him

After all he had no knowledge of any Shinobi or Kunoichi from his village that could have taught those kinds of techniques to his son

And that thought itself filled the blonde Hokage with a dread that he hadn't felt every since he had faced that masked guy that had released the Kyubi from his wife years ago

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With the Genins_

"What a drag" grumbled one Nara Shikamaru, his face showing an expression of annoyance that was caused by what he had just heard

His name, alongside the one of his opponent, had just been called for their fight, and even though the Nara heir already knew that his fight was next it still annoyed him to no end

It wasn't like Shikamaru wouldn't like to get the promotion to Chunin, after all in the plan that he had for his perfect and normal life he was aiming to become a Jonin, but Shikamaru still had no hurry to ascend through the ranks so soon.

In fact he honestly would preferred to stay Genin for at least one more year, after all not only the missions he had to do as a Genin were less troublesome than the one he would get as a Chunin , but there was also the fact that being a Chunin would mean that sooner or later Shikamaru would be forced to lead a team of fellow Konoha nin, and that was something that the black-haired Genin just thought would be too troublesome right now

Honestly he still couldn't understand how his dad managed to juggle all the responsibilities he had

So right now Shikamaru truly felt tempted to just announce that he was giving up the fight. His opponent, whose name was Temari, was already down waiting for him, and the expecting look she was giving him just made him think that this fight would be even more troublesome than he had expected

The fact that she was a girl didn't help

In fact that was what he was about to do, surrender the fight. Sure he knew that he would probably get some scolding from his sensei, and definitely some yells from his teammates, but he had the distinctive feeling that the blonde Suna Kunoichi that was his opponent could do a lot worse than that

However before he could open his mouth to announce his intentions a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned around to see the owner of the hand, who ended up being none other than the blonde Genin he considered a friend, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, who for some reason was giving him what he thought was an understanding look, even though his face showed practically noting

He had more than once wondered about the mystery that Naruto was. Of course Shikamaru was a very perceptive person, so it wasn't that hard for him to figure out that the relationship between Naruto and his family had some sort of friction based on his reaction every time his family was mentioned or when his siblings were compared to him during the Academy days

But he also knew that there was something else. He didn't know what, but if there was something that his mind believed every day was that Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto was definitely not a normal Shinobi

However while Shikamaru would admit that he was curious about him, he was also a person that knew about boundaries, so he would definitely never go and pester Naruto about his life. He would still try to discover it of course, after all a good enough puzzle was something that Shikamaru actually enjoyed, even though he acted like he didn't, but he wouldn't go demanding answers from the blonde

Although if said blonde ever decided to share the mysteries of his life with him then he would definitely be all hears

"I think I know what you're thinking" whispered Naruto low enough so that only Shikamaru could heard him, getting a raised eyebrow from the Nara heir "and I'm just going to say this: remember how many times you told me that your mother was a 'pain in the ass'?" this got a nod from Shikamaru, who didn't get why Naruto was bringing his Kaa-san to this

"Well then just think how she will get if you just give up now…" Naruto let the words hang on the air, wanting to see what kind of reaction he would get from Shikamaru

He of course didn't want for the Nara heir to just give up like that, after all this little tournament was made for the Genins to face the best of the best out there, and in Naruto's opinion it would be a true waste if someone like Shikamaru just gave up because it was _troublesome_

For his part the black-haired Genin just blinked at him a few times before releasing a tired sigh and nodding, understanding that if he had to choose between fighting that blonde Suna chick and facing his Kaa-san's wrath he would definitely face the Suna genin

Heck, he would even face Naruto himself if that saved him from hearing one of his Kaa-san's rants

In the end Shikamaru just left the balcony and walked down towards the arena, all the time muttering about 'Old hags' and 'anoying blondes' loud enough for everyone there to hear, which got more than once confused expression directed at Naruto since they were wondering what the blonde had told the Nara heir, but the blue-eyes mage just shrugged and focused on the center of the stadium, wanting to see what kind of fight this one would be

And what in interesting fight it was. It had started with Temari having what everyone thought was the complete advantage. Her attacks were powerful, deadly and aimed perfectly to the point that for a good portion of the fight Shikamaru had done nothing but run and barely dodge the attacks, something that made most people watching the fight, except those that knew Shikamaru, to already believe that Temari would win

However there was one advantage that Shikamaru had over the fan user and that was his _**Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique)**_. Temari had of course seen that technique during the preliminary rounds a month ago so she knew that if she let herself to get caught by it would definitely be a game over for her, so she did her best to keep herself at safe enough distance from the Nara Genin

Shikamaru, just like many members, was not called a tactical genius for nothing though, and he definitely showed that during his fight, more than once putting Temari on an edge with the use of his clan technique and multiple other tools and strategy that allowed for his technique to become a lot more dangerous

It was not the flashiest of all fights, but for those that were judging the participants not only for their raw strength but also for their tactical thinking it was obvious that one Nara Shikamaru would one day become another tactical master just like the rest of his clan

The fight finally reached at end when Shikamaru actually used one of the many holes that Kurotsuchi had made in the previous fight to catch Temari under his _**Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique)**_, and now that she was trapped and just in front of the lazy Nara with an angry expression on her face it became pretty obvious for her that she had lost the fight, and even though she had done her best to struggle out of the technique's hold, she already knew that it had no escape

She didn't know what pissed her off the most, if the fact that she had lost in her first fight or the fact that she had lost against someone that looked and acted like if he didn't even want to be here

Everyone else watching was thinking the same thing about the conclusion of the fight, however a complete silence filled the whole stadium as soon as Shikamaru raised his hand and with his normal lazy voice declared

"I give up" said the Nara, his half-lidded eyes looking directly at Temari's shocked ones

No one there could utter a single word; even Itachi looked lost for a moment before coughing a little bit in his hand and approaching the two Genins

"Are you sure about this?" the Uchiha asked to Shikamaru, using his mind to think about the logic behind the decision

"Yeah" Shikamaru answered back with a shrug, his technique disappearing letting Temari free

And it looked like Itachi was about to announce that Temari was now the winner, but the Suna Kunoichi would have none of that. She came here to prove herself against the best for not only herself but for her village. She was not going to accept such a shallow victory!

"What is the meaning if this?!" the blonde Kunoichi growled while grabbing Shikamaru by his shirt, getting an startled expression from him since he had actually expected for her to be happy that he was giving up

'Why must girls be so confusing?' thought the young Nara just before releasing a sigh

"You had me captured! Why did you give up?!" Temari hissed, vowing in her mind that if he said something about her gender she was going to beat him until he became a bloody pulp

"What else was I supposed to do?" Shikamaru answered, his voice low enough only for him and Temari to hear "I had already planned several ways of defeating you, but I'm completely exhausted already so I couldn't do much of the things I had planned"

Even after his little explanation Temari still had a hold on him, her eyes still in a fierce glare directed at him, making him grunt a little bit before speaking once again

"Besides" he started, his eyes going to where all the other Genins were for just a moment "considering who I might had to face in next round I just decided to get out while I could"

He of course wasn't lying to her. He had more than one plan that might had let him win this fight, but with the amount of chakra he now had those plan would be too hard to actually follow, and there was the fact that if he had won his next opponent would be either that Kumo nin with the sword or Menma, and Shikamaru knew that the only way he would be able to actually win against them was if he was in his best conditions

And sadly his fight against Temari, who was still glaring at him, had been a lot harder than he thought it would

For her part the Suna Kunoichi kept his hold on Shikamaru for a few more seconds before just pushing him away, giving a polite nod to Itachi and moving towards the entrance in order to go back to the balcony alongside her fellow Genins while Shikamaru just mumbled about how every blonde he knew could be such a pain in the ass

"Winner: Temari!" Itachi took this time to finally announce the outcome of the fight, prompting more than one reaction from the people watching

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Naruto_

"He gave up…" Menma, Mito, Sasuki and even Yakumo mumbled, a deadpanned expression showing on their faces. Of course they knew that Shikamaru was lazy, but this was taking it to a whole new level!

Shino showed no emotions as always, although some of the Genin there had caught him shaking his head just for a moment

Meanwhile Naruto was pinching the bridge of his noose, not knowing what to think right now. For one part he could understand what had probably gone through Shikamaru's head that made him take his decision, but on the other hand he also had the thought that the biggest reason for Shikamaru to give up was because that laziness that apparently was a trait of every male member of the Nara clan

But for the sake of the respect he had for him Naruto just decided to not judge him

"It wasn't a bad decision" the blonde said to himself, but apparently he had spoken a little bit higher than he would have liked since his words got the attention of many of the Genins that were around him

"Are you nuts?! He just gave up an easy victory!" it was Menma the first one to show his disbelief, prompting a sigh from the blue-eyes mage

"Fighting until the very end might be considered brave and an incredible show of will" Naruto said, his voice as calm as always "however sometimes you need to know when to retreat. When to fall back, even if you don't like it, and that is something a Chunin should be able to do"

Some of the Genins there, like Mito, Yakumo, Samui, Omoi and Shino all nodded to the blonde's words, while others like Menma, Kurotsuchi and even Sasuki just looked at him like if he had lost his mind

"Live to fight another day" the blonde Kumo Kunoichi commented, her icy blue eyes looking straight at Naruto who just nodded at her words

"That might be true…" this time it was Shino who spoke, his voice even more monotonous than Naruto's or Samui's "But I still have the feeling that Shimakaru's lack of enthusiasm is what drove him to make that decision"

The corner of Naruto's lips twitched since apparently he wasn't the only one that thought the same

"Indeed"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile_

"That idiot!" Ino practicly screeched, not at all liking the fact that her teammate and childhood friend just gave up on something like this

Her teammates were also having their own reactions. Sakura had her hand on her face while she shook her head and Kiba was just speechless, her mouth hanging open

"Tipical Shikamaru" Choji commented, getting a heated glare from Ino that made the boy stop talking immediately

Shikamaru's senseis, them being Asuma and Genma, showed a calmer exterior in comparison to the members of their team since they could also understand the logic that probably made Shikamaru to make that decision

With the group that was formed by the clan's head there were some interesting reactions. A lot of them were really not surprised by the outcome of their fight while others, mostly Natsumi, were just left speechless

Shikamaru's father, one Nara Shikaku, just released a sigh, not surprised by his son's action, but knowing exactly what kind of conversation it was going to be held in his house tonight

How did he know that? It was because of his wife overly sweet smile that she was now displaying. While most people would be fooled by it he was not, and he knew what it meant.

His son was now in trouble, which of course meant that he too was now in trouble

He just hoped to escape the torture that was to sleep in the couch

"A wise decision" the man that had joined the group, Zeref, spoke out of nowhere, his voice not revealing any kind of emotion towards the outcome of the fight

And it looked like his words were going to get a comment for Natsumi by how she quickly turned to look at him, but it was none other than Hyuga Hanabi the one that commented first

"How can you say that?" the girl asked with a frown "He was not only representing Konoha but also his clan and yet he decided to just quit! He should feel ashamed!"

Doing what was best for the clan and bringing honor to it had been one of the things that Hanabi had been learning every since she was a toddler, so it wasn't that surprising for the normally aloof Hyuga to speak like that when it came to this subject

Her father Hiashi was going to reprimand his daughter quickly but Zeref actually beat him to the punch, his black eyes looking directly at Hanabi with an uninterested look that would have made Hanabi angry if it wasn't for the strange feeling she got once his eyes landed on her

To put it simple she felt weak, almost as if she was nothing but an ant compared to this man

"You're forgetting the point of this event, little girl "Zeref's voice was as emotionless as it could get, even though he knew he had the attention of all the other people around him "This exam is to choose who are the best to not only become a Chunin, but also who are those that can actually think like a leader in the battlefield, and let me tell you something little girl, in a battlefield things like honor, pride and glory _do not_ matter at all. In fact things like that can easily get you killed"

All the clan heads found themselves nodding at Zeref's words, their interest in this mysterious man growing a little bit more.

For her part Hanabi found herself speechless, and even Natsumi looked like she had nothing to say for a moment, but then it seemed like she was going to say something but a hand on her shoulder, courtesy of her mother stopped her, even though Kushina's violet eyes were also looking straight at Zeref with a mix of interest and wariness

Then Zeref spoke once again, his eyes going from Hanabi to the back of his hand for a second before he just looked at the arena in which the next fight was about to be announced in fake interest

"In a battlefield there are no winners, only those that manage to survive and those that are dead"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Back in the arena_

Itachi had just announced the next fight and just like he had expected the whole stadium exploded in cheers simply because of who one of the fighters was

Uzumaki-Namikaze Menma, the Hokage's son and one of the Kyubi's jinchuriki

From her seats Natsumi was also cheering as loud as she did when Naruto fought while her mother just had a both proud and nervous smile, both of them forgetting about Zeref for the time being in order to focus on the fight of one of their family members

They weren't the only ones though, since Minato was also giving his son a small smile while just behind him Jiraiya was grinning openly, both of them wanting to see Menma do his best while the Raikage, A, just wished for Omoi to defeat Minato's son

Kakashi and Anko were also focused on their student, especially since neither of them had been of much assistance in training him the past month because his family had taken over the training

There were other two individuals that were also very interested in the fight, the difference being that these two were not from Konoha but from Kumo, and their reason for being interested wasn't only because one of the participant was a Genin from their village or because one of them was his sensei, but also because his opponent was someone like them: a jinchuriki. Alongside them there was also the third member of Omoi's team, Karui, who was openly cheering for Omoi's to 'kick Menma's ass' as she put it

Finally both Menma and Omoi reached the center of the Arena, Menma grinning widely while waving at everyone that was cheering while Omoi had his eyes closed and was taking some calm breaths. Both of them had already been wished luck by their teammates, with the exception of Naruto who had simply ignored Menma, although it wasn't like blue-eyed jinchuriki had been expecting anything from him anyway

Both Genins were now standing in front of each other, Menma sporting a cocky grin while Omoi's face showed nothing but determination. They were now just waiting for Itachi to announce the beginning of the fight, both of them more than ready to jump into action as soon as the order was given

This did not take even a second longer

"Hajime!"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Alcor_

The white-haired servant just smiled down at Menma, but it wasn't a kind or playful smile. No, it was one filled with malice, his red eyes having a dark glint to it that Zeref would easily recognize

"**I hope you win, Menma-kun**" Alcor murmured, his eyes going from Menma to where Naruto was, his smile widening slightly "**After all what's good in a pet that can't even follow simple orders?**"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Back to the fight_

As soon as Itachi announced the start of the fight Omoi sprung into action. He already had seen exactly how deadly Menma could be in mid to long range with his techniques, so the white-haired Kumo nin was not going to even give him the chance

He quickly dashed forward, unsheathing his sword and swinging it at Menma's chest in one swift movement, but Menma managed to block the attack with a kunai, although barely. He had already thought that Omoi would do something like that, but the sheer speed that the Kumo Genin had almost caught him off guard

Omoi was quick to end the deadlock by suddenly pushing his sword forcing Menma to give a step back. The Kumo nin would not give him any rest though since he followed that with an horizontal slash aimed at Menma's head

The blonde jinchuriki was able to stop it with the kunai he was holding in his right hand just before the attack reached its mark. Then taking advantage that his opponent was holding his sword with both hands Menma threw a punch directly at Omoi's face, but in a movement that Menma couldn't predict Omoi's right hand left his sword and quickly captured the blonde's fist just before the white-haired Genin's right knee slammed right into Menma's stomach

Menma grunted in pain, his teeth gritted against one another. The young Namikaze was not going to let something like a knee to the stomach to defeat him though, so not knowing what else to do to end this struggle he head butted Omoi with all his strength, both their forehead protector smashing against one another

Of course that attack didn't make any damage, but it was enough to make Omoi to stagger a little bit, which was exactly was Menma needed. He took advantage of it and quickly dashed backwards, wanting to make s much space between him and his opponent as he could

Omoi was more than ready to follow him, but a barrage of shurikens and kunais, courtesy of Menma of course, stopped him on his tracks.

With one swing of his sword Omoi was able to stop most of the projectiles going his way with the exception of a kunai that landed just by his feet. Omoi just gave the kunai a glimpse before quickly dashing backwards, his eyes noticing something dangerous in said weapon

_Boom_

Just like both Genins expected the kunai exploded, the reason being the _**Kibaku Fuda (Explosive Tag)**_ that had been attached into said weapon. Fortunately for Omoi he had been able to move out of the range of the explosion before it went off, but now he had given his opponent too much range, which was the last thing he had wanted to do in this fight

"_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clones Technique)**_!" yelled Menma, his fingers crossed in front of him in the form of a cross

Not a second later twenty clones of Menma appeared around him, and without any indication all but one of them moved quickly towards Omoi, who just stood there with his sword on his hand, more than ready to face the multiple clones

Of course since he had watched Menma's fight against Sai he kind of knew what strategy the blonde Jinchuriki was using here. His sensei had told him that went it came to stamina and chakra quantity a Jinchuriki would always have the advantage, and that if he wanted to win he would have to finish the fight as quickly as he could

Easier said than done though

The first clone that reached Omoi tried to hit him in the face with a straight punch, but he avoided the attack easily just before cutting the clone with an upward slash, then he quickly used his sword to block the slash of a kunai from another clone that had quickly appeared in front of him

He easily made the clone lose his balance with his sword before slashing it and destroying just before two other clones, this time from both his sides, but just like with the two before them they were easily dispatched by Omoi, his brow furrowed in concentration

The rest of the clones were now surrounding him completely, all more than ready to attack him, which they did just after a second, all of them moving towards Omoi with the intention of overwhelming him with their numbers alone

"_**Kumo-Ryū Mikazukigiri (Cloud-Style Three Days' Moon Beheading)**_!" Omoi was quick to react. He swung his sword in a single, large, crescent moon-shaped arc just in front of him, too quick for any of the clone to react. The attack easily dispatched every clone in front of him and to his sides, but Omoi wasn't done and using his momentum he quickly attacked those behind him

"_**Kumo-Ryū Uragiri (Cloud-Style Reverse Beheading)**_!" just like with the ones in front of him all the clones that had tried to attack him from behind were easily destroyed by Omoi's technique, leaving no clones around him

Omoi wasn't given any time to rest though, since he had to quickly move out of the way in order to avoid Menma's technique, which was a powerful gust of wind focused on where Omoi had been just a second ago, and the dark-skinned Genin knew that if he had been hit by that attack he would have at least been sent flying

All of that happened in a matter of seconds

Omoi looked towards his opponent, noticing how not only he had a cocky grin on his face but also how he had another clone besides him, both of them now starting to do some hand seals

The Kumo nin was quick to react though. He quickly dashed towards his opponent, his sword sheathed once again, and his hand set in a seal that made Menma and his clone stop their own technique for just a moment in shock

Why? Because Omoi just used what Menma considered his favorite technique after the _**Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)**_

A perfect clone of Omoi appeared besides him, just as solid as the original, and both of them were still moving towards Menma

The blonde managed to recover from his shocked state in time to finish his technique alongside his clone, both of them aiming it directly at the original Omoi

"_**Suiton: Teppodama (Water Release: Gunshot)**_!" both Menma and his clones yelled just before spitting two rather large water bullets directly at the original Omoi

Said Omoi actually stopped running while the clone continued, and for a moment Menma thought that his attack would hit, but then to his shock the clone, which was now rather close to him, used the _**Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)**_ in order to change position with the original, the clone disappearing as soon as both forms of water hit him on the chest

But now the real Omoi was extremely close to Menma and his clone, and he didn't waste this opportunity. With one last quick dash he reached them, on his left hand a kunai while his right hand ready to unsheathe his sword

With the kunai hestabbed the clone, destroying it easily. Then he unsheathed his blade and with one fluid movement he swung his sword at Menma's chest

The attack hit his mark perfectly, Omoi's blade cutting not only through Menma's clothes but also his flesh, leaving a bloody cut that went from Menma's right shoulder to the lower left part of his stomach, the tip of Omoi's sword also covered with the blonde's blood

Many people gasped at this, and those that were rooting for Menma were now sporting worried expression.

For his part Menma was in pain, blood going out of his wound. It wasn't that deep, but it still wasn't a shallow wound at all, and for the young blonde this type of wounds were new for him

Omoi honestly didn't want to have to kill his opponent. It would not be his first kill, but not only he didn't have anything against the son of the Hokage, unlike his red-haired teammate, but he also didn't want to bring his village any source of trouble for the dead of not only a jinchuriki but the Hokage's son none the less

It was for that that Omoi quickly shifted his katana in order to hit Menma, who had now actually fallen to his knees, with the blunt size of the sword. He was aiming to knock him out and win the fight, but Menma was still not defeated

Omoi's sword came down to strick Menma's head, but the blonderaised his hand and actually grabbed the sword with his right hand just before it reached him. Omoi was definitely surprised by his opponent's action, his sword now coated in more blood courtesy of the new cut that Menma now had on his right palm

In his momentary shock Omoi makes a mistake. Menma quickly stands up and puts his other hand over Omoi's chest, the blonde focusing his chakra in that same hand

"_**Fūton: Reppūshō (Wind Release: Gale Palm)**_!" as soon as Menma mutters this words Omoi is sent flying backwards by a sudden rush of wing coming from the blonde's palm, his sword still on his hand

That technique was one of the few he actually knew he could do without any type of hand seals, a product of his training. There were some disadvantage at thisthough, like the technique being significantly weaker with only one hand and that it needed more chakra, but with the amount of chakra that he had in his body something like that was nothing for him, and even though the technique was weaker with only one hand at the distance he had just used it he knew that Omoi would definitely feel it

The fact that he had over-charged the technique also helped too

And of course he felt it. The dark skinned Genin was sent flying by the force of the technique, his body then smashing into the ground back firsts. Omoi was left in the ground, his mouth open and his while body aching in pain. It honestly felt like someone had smashed him with a mace right in his chest

The Genin knew that the fight was yet to be over though, and slowly but surely he managed to stand up. He obviously had not expected for his opponent to be able to use any jutsu without hand seals or anything like that, and that assumption had lead him to the pain he was filling right now

As soon as he stood up he was met with the sight of more clones of Menma, probably around thirty or so, with the one he guessed was the original at the far back, obviously affected by Omoi's previous attack

The clones moved to strike him, but Omoi was ready to met them, only that instead of using his sword Omoi quickly went through a set of hand seals that none of the clones or Menma himself recognized

"_**Raiton: Sandāboruto (Lightning Release: Thunderbolt)**_!" Omoi extended both of his arms and not a second later a high discharge of electricity was released from his palms, the attack hitting every clone that had tried to reach him, destroying all of them in matter of seconds

Even after destroying his opponent's clones Omoi wasn't given any moment of rest since, from the smoke that the clones had left in their destruction, a _**Fūma Shuriken (Wind Demon Shuriken)**_ appeared, flying at a high speed directly at him

For just a second there Omoi wondered where exactly had his opponent hid such a weapon, but he wasn't left with any time. Omoi jumped to the sides quickly, the shuriken almost striking his left shoulder as it passed besides him

Then a yell takes Omoi's attention, coming from none other than Menma himself, who was now running at him with two kunais at hand. While Omoi couldn't understand why his opponent would do something like that instead of sending more clones he was not going to lose his chance

He easily blocked Menma's intent at slashing him with his sword before going to the offensive with powerful and fast swings that Menma had trouble being able to block with his kunai. In the end Omoi proved to be the stronger combatant, and with one more attack he managed to disarm his opponent just before slashing at his chest once again with an upward cut

Omoi of course expected for blood to quickly gush out of his opponents new wound, but instead of that what he got was for the person he believed to be Menma to disappear in a puff of smoke, just like any other shadow clone

'A clone?! B-but where's the original then?!" Omoi was left shocked for a second. He was sure that he had been facing the original; after all he could not see Menma anywhere. He knew he had lost sight of Menma for a second while dealing with the clones, but where could he have got?

The answer came in the form of a swirling sound just behind him, and Omoi had barely time to look over his shoulder, his gaze meeting Menma's blue eyes, just before a _**Rasengan (Spirraling Sphere)**_ smashed directly into his back, the attack shredding his clothes and digging into his flesh

Omoi screamed in pain just before he was sent flying by the force of the technique, his body smashing into the ground face first, an ugly-looking wound now present on the middle of his back

What had happened had been in fact very simple. While Omoi had been dealing with the clones Menma had created one more clone using more chakra than with the rest, then he had used _**Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique)**_ to turn himself into a _**Fūma Shuriken (Wind Demon Shuriken) **_which was then thrown by the remaining clone

Then while Omoi was once again distracted by the last clone Menma had taken the chance to use the _**Rasengan (Spirraling Sphere) **_in order to finish the fight

Of course the blonde had doubted for a moment if using that technique was the best call. Both his Tou-san and Kaa-chan had warned him of how this technique should not be used slightly because of it's destructive nature and that he should _never_ use it on commarades, but as soon as Omoi had dran the first blood by cutting him Menma had realized that the fight would not be as easy as he thought it would, which in the end made him use what he considered his strongest technique

While Menma stood there, not looking that tired from the fight, in fact if it wasn't for the wound he had on his chest one would think he was perfectly fine, Itachi quickly moved to the unmoving form of Omoi, noticing how the Kumo Genin's sword was still tightly grasped on his hand even though he had just received a powerful technique right on his back

Itachi was quick to check on Omoi, not daring to move him a lot just in case, before looking at Menma and then addressing the whole stadium, using chakra to amplify his own voice

"Winner by knockout: Uzumaki-Namikaze Menma!" Itachi announced, this time specifying the reason for the winner's victory to make sure that no one got the wrong idea. Sure, killing was not against the rules, but Itachi knew that it would be just best for everyone if he made it clear that Menma's opponent was still alive although severely injured

Not a moment after his announcement the whole stadium exploded in cheers, definitely a lot louder than any of the other reactions that the fights had gotten before

A group of medic-nin was quick to appear in order to take Omoi away to treat his wounds while a dark-skinned men that a few people recognized as Omoi's sensei also appeared, taking Omoi's sword away from his grasp and following the group of medic-nins in order to make sure that his student would be ok

Another medic-nin alongside Itachi went to Menma, Itachi asking him if he was good enough to continue while the medic-nin just stood there, waiting to see if he was going to take the Hokage's son or not

"Don't worry; this is nothing but a scratch!" Menma declared, his hand touching the wound in his chest, of course making him wince in pain. While the blonde knew that this kind of wounds should normally be treated he also knew that as both a jinchuriki and as a part of the Uzumaki clan that he had an unnatural healing factor, which for him just meant that a wound like this one was nothing

Besides there was no way he was going to give up just after winning one fight. His objective was winning the whole thing after all!

And of course, to face Naruto along the way

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With the Kages_

Minato could not hide the proud smile that appeared on his face at his son's victory, and while he didn't like the fact that he had used his technique like that, he couldn't really blame him that much in this case

"Truly an interesting fight" the Kazekage commented "your son's masteries over techniques like the _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clones Technique)**_ and _**Rasengan (Spirraling Sphere)**_ shows power beyond that of a Genin"

His voice was showed not surprise at those facts though, and he really wasn't, in fact no one was, after all Menma wasn't only a jinchuriki but also Minato's son, so it wasn't hard at all to believe the fact that he had gotten special training, probably since he was a child

"Yes, his prowess over ninjutsu is definitely beyond that of a Genin. Not only was that but his use of shadow clones was both ingenious and effective" commented Minato, his eyes then falling on the scowling from of the Raikage "Omoi-san also showed a lot of promise. His swordsmanship is truly top notch and he showed that he's easily able to react quickly under pressure with good decisions"

"I think the blonde brat didn't take his opponent seriously enough" this time it was Onoki who spoke, his eyes closed in concentration "He underestimated his opponent and for that he paid with blood. Being able to recognize the true danger of a situation is something fundamental for a Chunin. The other one did well enough I guess, although I dare say he needs more variety on his attacks besides just _**Kenjutsu (Sword Techniques)**_

The Raikage for his part was still scowling. He of course was not surprised by this outcome. He was angry sure, but not surprise. In fact while he would never admit it he knew that the Genins that had the biggest chance of winning this were those three that were jinchuriki. That was A's opinion of the matter of course, after all he knew how powerful a jinchuriki could truly be, and he truly could not think of a regular Genin being able to defeat one

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, in the stands_

Kushina released a relieved sigh, happy that her son had managed to come out victorious from his fight. Of course she had been worried when his opponents had managed to hurt him, but now she was just glad that her sochi managed to come out relatively harmless

From her side Natsumi was obviously happy. Both her Naruto-niichan and Menma-niichan had won their fights, and she was sure that her Onee-chan would win too!

The rest of the clan's head showed no surprise by the outcome of the fight since they knew that both Menma and Mito were probably the greatest treats in the whole competition, although Fugaku was damn sure that his daughter would find a way to come out on top in the end

She was an Uchiha after all

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Naruto_

"Well I guess our idiotic teammate will last longer than I thought" commented Sasuki, gaining a small nod from Naruto and complete silence from Mito, who looked like she was actually ignoring the raven-haired girl

Not that she cared anyway

Naruto's focus right now was in someone else though, that person being none other than Omoi's teammate: Samui

The rest of the Genins here had showed either indifference towards the fight, like Gaara and Shino, while other showed open interest in it but opted to not comment anything about it, like Temari and Yakumo

Samui on the other hand had done her best to hide how she felt towards the fight by sowing a cold exterior, but Naruto had been learning from someone that had practiced the art of hiding any type of expression from showing for years, so for him to actually notice Samui's small flickers of emotion that crossed her eyes during the fight had not been that big of a deal

She had been both worried and angry during the fight, or at least that's what Naruto had been able to recognize. Worried about her teammate's health and angry towards Menma for hurting him like that. Naruto of course could understand those emotions, and he was sure that if something happened to Sasuki during this tournament he would be showing the exact same emotions, even though he would do his best to hide

"Omoi fought very well" Naruto said to Samui who had her arms crossed over her chest. She was standing just besides him in the railing, while Sasuki was to his left. Besides Sasuki was Mito and Yakumo while the rest of the Genins were behind them, Gaara being the one furthest away from everyone

Samui just raised an eyebrow at him, not knowing that the blonde Genin was trying to win with that comment

"Yes he did" those were the only words that Samui said, her tone as cold as her eyes

"Please tell him once he wakes up that I would definitely like to cross swords with him" Naruto continued, his tone calm but polite

Fighting against strong people had become something that Naruto was actually exited for. While before he honestly didn't thought that much about fights, now he found himself craving for good challenges. His sensei had explained to him that what he was feeling was something normal for a dragon slayer, and that in the future he would be able to tune down that craving, something that had filled Naruto with relief

After all he had no intention of becoming a fight-obsessed person whose only motivation to become strong was to fight against strongest people

Samui just regarded him with a cold calculative look before nodding, her eyes still looking like chips of ice that could feeze you with only one look

"I'll make sure that your words reach him" Samui answered, thinking how nervous Omoi would feel at hearing that the other son of the Hokage was interesting in fighting him. That thought was almost enough to make her smile amusingly

Almost

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**This chapter was originally going to be a lot larger. In fact I was planning to put the other three fights in this one, but that would have made the chapter way too long so I just decided to cut it here**

**I know this update came late, but worry not! The next update will definitely be quicker than this one**

**I know that this chapter might have let some questions about what happened during the training month with some characters, but you'll have to wait in order to find out**

**I know a lot of you readers want for Naruto to forgive his family since, in theory; it wasn't truly their fault that they neglected him. You must remember though that Naruto doesn't know that. As far as he knows Kushina and Minato were just bad parents towards him and nothing else. The only ones that know the whole situation are both the Shinigami and Alcor, and while Zeref might suspect about their doings he had no evidence about it. More of this will be shown/explained in future chapters**

**I want to thank both **_**AnimeAnomaly72 **_**and FlamingBlaze for becoming the beta-readers of this story**

**Next Chapter: You guessed it, the rest of the fights!**


	18. Round One: A Genin's Strength Part Two

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

"Acnologia" Naruto" Normal speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

**Chapter 16**

**Round One: A Genin's Strength Part Two**

The whole stadium was once again filled with loud yells of excitement and cheers just as lively as when Menma fought. The reason for this was once again because one of the participants of the next fight was just as cherished in Konoha as her brother and fellow Jinchuriki

Yes, Uzumaki-Namikaze Mito was now on the middle of the arena, her face set in an expression of extreme determination and focus, her violet eyes looking directly at her opponent's blue ones

Both her and her opponent Samui had been called shortly after the last fight had ended, with Omoi being sent to get medical care while Menma simply got back to the balcony in which all the other Genins were, trying to act tough even though practically all of them could tell that the wound in his chest really hurt

Sadly there was nothing Mito could do about the wound, even though she really wanted it. She didn't know any medical techniques and even if she did know them she would still be unable to help her brother because of the rules of the tournament.

No Genin could receive external help from _anyone_. That included members of the medical staff and other Genins. If one wanted to get treated for their wounds then it meant that you were forfeiting the tournament, and anyone that knew Menma would know that his pride would never allow for something like that to happen

That had no stopped Mito from practically mothering him as soon as she had gotten near him. The worst thing was that he acted like it was nothing and like she was overreacting!

She had never wanted to actually hit any of her siblings until that moment, and even then the only reason she didn't do it was for the wound he already had

What had upset the young red-head more about the situation is how cold and uninterested her other brother, Naruto-nii, had acted towards the whole situation. It had been the same when Naruto fought both against Lee and Neji. Menma had acted as if he didn't care at all that his brother had gotten hurt in those fights, and that in Mito's opinion was just wrong

Surely their relationship couldn't be that bad, could it? Of course she knew that Naruto-nii was not Menma-nii's favorite person in the world, but she was sure that there was more than one way to fix that up

And while she already knew perfectly how badly her Naruto-nii thought about their whole family Mito _knew_ that there had to be some way to fix things up. She just did

She wanted to fix things up so much. She loved all of her family dearly, but it was her Naruto-niisan the one that had a special place in her heart. Maybe it was because of how close they were when they were children, or maybe it was because of how much Naruto had cherished his time with her in the past, but she didn't know.

The only thing she knew was that she wanted for him to be happy and safe. Before she had believed in the Kyubi's words, thinking that she was doing good. Now she could easily look back and realize how much of a fool she had been

That didn't matter to her anymore though. She just wanted to mend her relationship with him. She wanted for him to be happy, safe and loved and those were things that she could give him, but for that she needed to earn his forgiveness first, something that she had already vowed herself to do

Besides there was no way she was going to let her dear Naruto-niisan to get caught even more in the claws of Uchiha Sasuki. Her Nii-san might believe that they are friends, but if the information she got in the past month was correct then that 'friendship' would only end in tragedy

And there was no way in hell she would let that happen

The young red-head shook her head, wanting to clear her mind about that kind of stuff. She knew that if she fought with so many things in her mind she was more likely to make mistakes

Samui was having her own set of thoughts too. Originally she had cursed both her and her teammates luck for ending up being paired against the Jinchurikis of the Kyubi in their first fight, but after seeing her teammate give his best even though he knew the odds were against him she vowed to do the same

To show not only her opponent, her Kage and everyone watching her might, but also the strength that Kumo held. She would not disappoint anyone, especially herself.

Both Genins were now just waiting for Itachi to announce the beginning of the fight, their hands grasping the hilt of their own blade tightly, waiting for the exact moment to move

Which came just a second later

"Hajime!"

They moved a quick as they could while unsheathing their blades, intending to land the first strike.

They met at the middle of the arena, their weapons clashing against the other ones. Mito's katana against Samui's tanto, both blades being just that, blades that had no special aspect and that their power was as strong as the skills of their wielder

Mito was quick to take the offensive by pushing off Samui and then unleashing a quick series of slashes that were both powerful and precise.

Samui proved to be no pushover though, and managed to parry every single one of Mito's attack. This continued for some minutes, with Mito trying her best to land an attack on her blonde opponent while Samui perfectly parried or blocked every single one of the young red-head's attacks

It wasn't obvious for everyone watching, but for those few that were master of the art of the blade the difference in both girl's strength was definitely there. While Mito might have been training in the art of _**Kenjutsu (Sword Techniques)**_ for a longer time Samui had more experience when it came to actually fight with and against swords, something that her training and missions as a Kunoichi of Kumo had allowed her to obtain

Samui was also quite intelligent. She knew that against a jinchuriki she couldn't stay in the defensive forever, something that her sensei had warned her about; after all if it came to a battle of stamina she was sure to lose, so right now what she was doing was waiting for the right moment to strike

Said moment was quick to appear. Samui had managed to block another one of Mito's attack, only that this one had been a lot stronger than the rest. Samui had not been expecting this and the guard she had up during the fight had broken slightly.

Mito had been quick to exploit that by throwing another fast slash at Samui's chest. The kumo nin proved once again to be a tough opponent by blocking said attack with a kunai that she was now wielding on her left hand on a reverse-grip

Then with a quick movement Samui managed to land a an attack on Mito's left arm with her tanto, making her the first one to draw out blood in the fight, both her blade and Mito's arm now covered in the crimson liquid

The red-head winced in pain, for a moment thinking of how lucky she was that the cut was located on the outer part of her arm. She quickly pushed Samui of before moving backwards a little bit

The violet-haired girl just gave a glance at her bleeding arm before once again resuming her two-handed stand, her opponent more than ready to meet her once again with both her tanto in one hand and a kunai in the other one

Samui managed to detect something off in her opponent's katana though. From her point of view it looked like it started glowing for just a moment in green and blue like aura, but the blonde girl was not given any more time to ponder about it since Mito quickly dashed at her, her sword coming directly at her from her left

Since it was coming from her left Samui was quick to try and block the attack with her kunai, already thinking on how to counter-attack with her tanto just after that, but her plan was destroyed as quick as it was made when Mito's sword actually cut through her kunai like it was a hot knife going through butter, catching her by surprise

Because of that Samui wasn't able to do anything against Mito's attack, which landed perfectly on her shoulder, cutting easily through her clothes and flesh

It was by nothing but pure luck that Samui's shoulder and arm had not been completely separated from her body since the attack had not been able to make such a deep cut, but Mito wasn't done there and quickly tried to follow up with an upward slash

Samui tried to dodge the attack by moving backwards, not wanting for her tanto to suffer the same fate as her kunai. She managed to avoid another bloody cut but her clothes around her chest were almost destroyed because of Mito's sword new found reach

'She's channeling wind chakra on her sword' the blonde thought, figuring out her opponent's new technique. She didn't know what her opponents elemental affinities were before, and now that she could add more power to her blade Samui also decided to step up her game, her own chakra covering her tanto, only that unlike Mito that was using wind she was using lighting

Both sword users met again in a fury of slashes, releasing gusts of wind and sparks every time their swords met one another

This lasted for a while, both Kunoichi trying her best to gain the upper hand but failing, although it was obvious that Mito was the one doing most of the offensive, with Samui waiting for the right moments to try and attack her opponent

Of course this had to end sooner or later, and it did once Samui abruptly moved backwards, catching Mito of guard, and pointing the tip of her lightning-enhanced tanto at Mito

"_**Raiton:**_ _**Denjiha (Lighting Release: Electromagnetic Wave)**_" Samui muttered, the electricity surrounding her blade becoming even stronger just before it shout out of the tanto like a bullet, it's objective being none other than Mito

Said red-head had no time to react since the attack was too fast and the distance was too short so it ended up hitting her straight on her right leg

The first thing Mito felt was a powerful burning sensation on her leg right on the place that Samui's technique had hit her, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. It was the next sensation that worried the young girl.

A sudden sense of numbness appeared in Mito's lower body. The violet-haired girl had just a moment to widen her eyes in surprise before her legs stopped being able to hold her whole body, forcing her to her knees, both of her hands still holding her sword which she was now using to hold her balance

Samui took advantage of her technique, which was normally used in order to capture people alive, and tried to move quickly at Mito, ready to end the fight, but the red-head saw it coming and just as Samui moved she quickly swinger her sword in front of her and used her own technique

"_**Shinkūken (Vacuum Sword)**_!" an arc-like gust of wind appeared as soon as Mito swung her blade, the attack flying directly at Samui's legs because of the position Mito was

The blonde Kunoichi had no choice but to jump in order to avoid the attack. That movement cost her though, since Mito took advantage and quickly used her next technique

"_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clones Technique)**_!" three perfect replicas of Mito appeared around her, completely fine unlike the original one. Two of the clones moved quickly at the now landing Samui while the third one stayed besides the original and helped her to stand up

The Kumo nin did her best to match up against both clones. Their movements were definitely as precise as the original but not as quick, which let Samui able to handle them

The problem was that Samui didn't want to take her eyes out of her opponent. She remember that that was the mistake that had made Omoi to lose his fight, but the clones themselves were not that easy to dealt with, which made her had to focus more on then that she would have liked

Mito, unlike her brother, preferred quality over quantity, which is why anytime she used that technique she created just a few clones but with a lot more chakra than what is necessary while Menma preferred to use a lot of chakra to create dozens of clones

While Samui faced the clones Mito made her next move. The clone that had stayed with her quickly took a scroll that was strapped to Mito's waist. She had three of those, all of them completely blue

The clone opened and quickly pushed chakra on the seal that was in the scroll while the original finally managed to stand up, the feeling of numbness becoming less noticeable on her legs

From the scroll water gushed out like a fountain. The sound of water gushing out alarmed Samui, and after sparring a glance at was going on with the original Mito she accelerated her progress against the clones, both creations finally failing with a well aimed punch and a stab in the gut

Then the blonde nin moved quickly against Mito, who was now standing up and had her sword over the fountain-like scroll

She almost reached her but was stopped by the last remaining clone, her katana meeting her tanto. Samui growled a little bit unlike herself, feeling frustration at the fact that her opponent was probably preparing something while her clones did their best to distract her

She managed to deal with the clone fairly quickly, but it was already too late. The next thing Samui saw was Mito coming at her, definitely slower than normal but with the small distance that was between them it didn't matter.

It wasn't her speed that caught her attention though. It was her sword, or to be more precise what was covering it. Unlike before when it was wind now it was water, covering the whole katana like a ferocious vortex

"_**Suiton: Ōuzu Matoi no Jutsu**_ _**(Water Release: Great Whirlpool Enfolding Technique)**_ The sword now looked more like a mace, and that's how it felt once it met Samui's tanto, the blonde genin having no more option than to try and block the attack

It didn't work well for her though. As soon as Mito's attach reached her sword the vortex of water was quick to destroy her defense. She was sent flying the opposite direction, her sword being separated from her quickly by the attack

Samui slammed on the floor by her back, her right arm hurting even more because of the wound she had there. Samui knew that if that attack had reached her directly she would have been a goner, and for that moment she just felt glad that she was actually alive

Then the cold filling of steel was pressed against her throat, making Samui to open her eyes and look up at a calm-looking Mito, who had the tip of her now normal-looking katana pressed against her neck

"Do you yield?" the Uzumaki-Namikaze asked, her tone calm and serious, her words followed by her pressing her sword a little bit more against her opponent's throat

While Samui was not one to just give up a fight like that she was also no fool. She knew that this situation sadly meant that she had lost, and that there was nothing she could do about it

"I yield" the blue-eyes girl said, her blue eyes looking straight at Mito's violet ones. The red-head nodded in acceptance and quickly took her sword out of Samui's neck, and then surprising the blonde genin she offered her hand to her, which Samui took gracefully in order to stand up

"Winner: Uzumaki-Namikaze Mito!" Itachi was quick to announce the winner. He then approached both Genins with Samui's tanto on his hand. The sword had ended up close to him and now he was simply returning it to his owner

Just like with the previous fight the whole stadium practically exploded in cheers. They had not only enjoyed the fight but were also overjoyed that one of their saviors had won her fight.

Not that there was any doubt in their minds that she would win just like her brother though

Itachi returned the tanto to her owner who just gave him a nod before sheathing the weapon. She turned to her former opponent who just looked at her for a few seconds before actually bowing respectfully at her.

Samui didn't let the surprise to show on her face and returned the gesture elegantly. She didn't expect for her to do that, but it seemed that the children of the Hokage had the liking to surprise her and her teammates

They then parted ways, Mito returning to were the other Genins were while Samui was moved out of the arena by a medic-nin who wanted to check on her shoulder

Samui's mind was still on her opponent though. Both jinchuriki siblings had definitely left an impression on her, more Mito than Menma, but it was the other member of that family, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, that still had most of her attention

She could still remember the power he showed her and her team back in the Forest of Death. That power truly felt like nothing she had ever faced in her life. It was completely different from when her sensei had showed her team his abilities as a jinchuriki

The part of her that was more curious about it had wanted to face the blonde himself, but another part of her was actually scared of facing him. She was no fool; she knew that he had just toyed with that Hyuga that had been his opponent, so the question about how truly strong Naruto was still plagued her mind

Samui ended up just releasing a small sigh. Now she could do nothing but hope that he showed his real strength at some point of the tournament

After all if what she had felt back at the second task was anything to go by, his full strength would definitely be more than just cool

For her part Mito just grabbed the scroll she had used before from the ground, which was now of course wet. Not only that but some water had even ended in one of the holes that the field had

The last thing she did was to tear up one of her sleeves and tied the piece of cloth around the cut in her arm

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With the Kages_

"And with that it looks like Kumo is now out of the competition" the Kazekage was quick to comment, earning a growl and a glare from the Raikage, from who you could easily feel anger emanating from him

"Oh relax Raikage, maybe your Genins will have more luck next time" it was now Onoki the one that talked with a smirk on his face. Of course it's not like it was necessary for a Genin to win the tournament in order to become a Chunin, but the Kages knew that the village that won the tournament would definitely get some increase in missions

A was now alternating from glaring at Raza and Onoki, although in the end he settled himself with the oldest Kage "I wouldn't talk so much, especially since you only have one Genin still in the fight!"

"Oh? But you forget that this Genin is my granddaughter, Raikage!" Onoki shot back, meeting A's glare easily

"And you're forgetting against who your granddaughter will be faced against in her next fight" Minato broke out the stare contest with his comment

Onoki didn't even answer back and simply looked at his front. He had confidence in his granddaughter's victory. In fact he even believed that she could actually win this, although he would never tell her that or her ego would get even bigger than it already was

"I bet they'll start yelling at each other by the semifinals" Jiraiya whispered to Orochimaru who was standing right beside him low enough so that nobody else could hear them

"That's a fools bet" Orochimaru answered drily, earning a shrug from the toad summoner

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With the Genins_

"Good luck" Naruto told to Sasuki who simply gave him a smirk and a nod, obviously not nervous or worried at all about her fight

"You should worry about yourself more than me" Sasuki said confidently. She was quite sure that she could win her fight easily, after all her opponent was Kurama Yakumo, who she remembered well only had Genjutsu as her weapon, and she could easily deal with that with her Sharingan

"You shouldn't underestimate your opponent, Sasuki" Naruto reprimanded, but the Uchiha just waved his worries of, more than sure that she could easily defeat Yakumo

The next fight had already been announced, with Sasuki and Yakumo being the fighters. While Naruto was the one wishing Sasuki good luck Yakumo was receiving words of confidence from his teammate Shino, although they weren't many, and her friend Mito, who had no intentions of speaking to Sasuki

Menma also muttered a good luck towards Sasuki, saying that she better not lose since he also wanted to fight her, but his words only got a slap on the head from the black-eyed girl

The rest of the Genins there, namely Temari, Gaara and Kurotsuchi just watched, with Temari just interested in the arena, although she would sometimes give short glances at Naruto and her brother, Kurotsuchi alternating between looking at the arena and glaring at Naruto, who acted as if he didn't felt her glaring daggers at him, and Gaara just looking blankly at nothing in specific, although just like his sister he would sometimes glance at not only Naruto but at Menma too

Finally both Konoha Kunoichis descended to the field, with Sasuki sporting a little smirk while Yakumo did her best to hide how nervous she was actually feeling

Of course the Kurama heiress had already a plan set on her head. She knew that there was no chance of her actually winning the whole thing, so she was more than ready to use all of her techniques into this one fight

This would also be the first time that she actually showed her special talent to anyone but her family, senseis and teammates, and she knew that it would be a decisive factor in the fight

Her Genjutsu was her pride, and she would show Uchiha Sasuki that she was a strong Kunoichi just like her

Every since the Academy days Yakumo had always admired three people. Mito, Sasuki and none other than Rock Lee. While she always admired Mito's kindness, she also admired Sasuki's confidence, which was always Yakumo had always lacked

With Rock Lee on the other hand it was quite simple. He had been in the same situation as her, only that with Taijutsu, but he still managed to strive forward with the help of his sensei, even though everything was against him

She knew that besides her Genjutsu she didn't really have anything else to offer. Some people even told her that it would be best if she just gave up because of her fragile body

But Yakumo had refused and now this was her chance to show everyone that she was more than just a dead-weight

Sasuki for her part was more than sure that she would win the fight. She easily remembered that Yakumo's skills back on the Academy had definitely not being the best. She did remember that Genjutsu was the only thing that the girl was actually good at, but that didn't worry Sasuki in the slightlest

She after all had her Sharingan, so she was more than sure that she could deal with whatever type of illusion Yakumo threw at her

No, her real opponents were obvious on her heads. Menma (she would never tell him that though), Mito, that weird Gaara guy and of course Naruto

Itachi observed both girls, his eyes lingering on his little sister a second longer just before he spoke for everyone to hear

"Hajime!"

People that knew how Uchiha fought weren't surprised by the fact that Sasuki didn't sprung into action, her eyes firmly set on her opponents and her body ready to react.

This made Yakumo the one to make the first move, her hands going through hand-seals at a quite impressive speed for a Genin

"_**Magen: Jikogu no Tsume (Demonic Illusion: Hellish Claws)**_!" as soon as she ended her hand-seals multiple red like claws appeared from under Sasuki and did their best to grab a limb of the raven-haired girl

It was a simple illusion, used to immobilize enemies before actually striking them. Of course it worked a lot better as an ambush instead of a direct confrontation like this, so it was no surprise that Sasuki was able to act so quickly

She quickly put her hands into a seal before they were 'grabbed' by their claws and with a yelled "Kai!" she released enough chakra to break the illusion that had appeared around her. The red claws disappeared quickly as if they had never even be there

Sasuki now had her Sharingan in full display, showing two tomoes spinning slowly. Her eyes were focused on Yakumo, who she noticed was wise enough to not look at her in the eyes

Yakumo's illusion might had not worked, but it did what Yakumo needed, which was to buy precious seconds for her, which she quickly used

She managed to make more space between them, although it wasn't that much. Her real attention was on the hand-seals she was doing. An old technique of her clan that she knew could bring her victory

"_**Jigoku Kara no Keiyaku: Rakshasa (Contract from Hell: Rakshasa)**_!" Sasuki had never heard of that technique, nor had she even seen that combination of hand-seals. Her Sharingan had caught it all and she now knew that she had a new technique on her arsenal, but first she would have to see what it actually did

It was only for that reason that Sasuki had not dashed directly at Yakumo or do any techniques of her own. Yes she knew that she was truly underestimating her opponent, something that both her parents, Kakashi and even Naruto had told her, but how could she not? As far as she knew Yakumo's only weapon was her Genjutsu, something that was practically useless against her thanks to her Sharingan, so as far as Sasuki knew she had already won, so she might as well at least get some interesting techniques with her Sharingan

At first nothing happened, but just two seconds later a weird red mist appeared between Yakumo and Sasuki. This made Sasuki raise an eyebrow, which turned into a frown quickly when the red mist started to actually take form

The form it took definitely looked human, although it was also obvious that it wasn't. First it was quite tall, noticed Sasuki. It was definitely taller than her Onii-sama and Otou-sama by at least a head

His skin was completely red, a crimson color just like the one of the weird mist from which it came from. It's face looked weird, and Sasuki had to admit that it was definitely intimidating, with empty white eyes and even two horns sticking out of his head and going up

The thing also had a weird ponytail, its dark brown hair failing until its mid-section. Its arms and chest were covered in some spots by some red material that Sasuki couldn't recognize, although the being was mostly naked

In fact the only thing covering its mid section was a piece of brown cloth that was tied around his waist. The thing was obviously male by what Sasuki could see, even though she still questioned what kind of monster it was supposed to be

Then the estrange thing actually released a grunt, more red mist escaping from what looked like its mouth. This new mist went to its hand and just like with the previous one this one also took form, one that Sasuki recognized quickly

Twin swords appeared on its hands. The swords weren't like anything Sasuki had ever seen. They were long silver-blades that ended in a 'U' form, with one tip being longer than the other one. The thing that got Sasuki's attention the most though was the blood that was on the blades. Both swords were covered by it to the point that Sasuki could even smell it from where she was

Then something hit Sasuki suddenly. She didn't know what it was, but the best way of putting it would be that it was killing intent, only that it wasn't like anything she had ever felt before

She didn't just felt. It was like the damn thing punched her in the gut. She didn't know if this was actually killing intent or not, but for the first time in a while Sasuki actually felt nothing but fear

It was not a common feeling for her, making her actually give a step back, her legs trembling a little bit. It became worse when the damn thing actually started to walk slowly towards her, even more red mist escaping its mouth

Sasuki actually panicked a little bit when the mist quickly covered the _whole_ arena, to the point that she could barely see, even with her Sharingan on. The only thing clear on her vision being the red-skinned 'man' that was still walking towards her

Even Yakumo escaped her gaze, which was really fortunate for the Kurama heiress since if Sasuki had seen her she would have seen just how utterly tired she was

This had to be one of Yakumo's strongest illusions. It was one of the techniques that her clan kept as a secret and that only a certain few actually knew about. It was of course a Genjutsu

The purpose of the illusion was quite simply, to make the target feel fear like any other. It was a technique normally used to capture and immobilize enemies, the sheer _fear_ that the technique made the target feel being more than enough to make an effect in the opponent

Of course this Genjutsu was better used when the enemy didn't see it coming, like with a trap or an ambush. That way the effect were even stronger since the majority of people would believe that the illusion was quite real

The fact that her opponent knew that it was an illusion didn't worry Yakumo though, after all she knew that the technique itself was quite powerful, and with her own skills in Genjutsu she knew that Sasuki would be heavily affected, Sharingan or not

But then the technique didn't come without any shortcomings. It was an illusion that needed a lot of chakra. Even with Yakumo's incredible chakra control she was still left quit exhausted after using it, which might be not that surprising considering how big her chakra reserves were

Maintaining the technique would also be hard, and she knew that she couldn't hold the illusion by much longer. When Yakumo, alongside her senseis, considering the technique they realized that by all means and terms the technique might not be enough to defeat Sasuki, mostly because of the time Yakumo could actually use it

But then Yakumo knew that there was still something that gave her the edge in the fight, and she knew that if she won it would probably be because of _that_

Yes, Kurama Yakumo had as much confidence on her _**Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit)**_ as Sasuki had in hers, the difference being that while Yakumo knew about the Sharingan, Sasuki had no knowledge about her opponent's

Meanwhile with Sasuki, the raven-haired girl had her eyes narrowed at the red-skinned creation of her opponent, the smell of decay and blood coming strongly out of it to the point that it made her nauseous

She decided to end this once and for all. She had already seen more than enough and she now was even regretting not acting sooner against Yakumo. She didn't know if she would had been able to stop her technique but she could at least had tried

"Kai!" Sasuki yelled, her hands in a hand-seals, doing her best to stop Yakumo's illusion by using her chakra. She was surprised by the fact that she Sharingan alone wasn't enough to make her immune to it, but at least it did tell her that it _was_ an illusion

Sasuki showed a shocked expression when the illusion around herself didn't disappear at all, in fact it practically became worse. The red mist was now covering everything to the point that she couldn't even see the sky, while the red-skinned figure was just standing there, its eyes focused on her

"You should give up, Sasuki-san" then Yakumo's voice resounded everywhere, surprising Sasuki even more who started to look around, trying to catch a glimpse on her opponent "You _can't_ escape this technique, not even with your precious Sharingan. You should just give up and save yourself the pain and trouble"

"As if I would do something like that!" The Uchiha growled out loud, angry by the fact that her opponent acted as if she had already won the fight

"As you wish, but don't say that I didn't warn you" Yakumo responded back with a sigh. She knew that trying to convince her former classmate to give up something like this was practically impossible, but she at least had to try

Then faster than Sasuki could react, even though her Sharingan allowed her to see everything, the red-skinned figure moved towards her in a flash

Sasuki had no time to react, and the next thing she knew was that one of the being's swords met her left shoulder, blood gushing out of her new wound

Sasuki eyes were now open wide in shock, her teeth grinding against each other and her right hand now holding her bleeding shoulder

Sasuki tried her best to catch a glimpse of the red-skinner monster, but he had disappeared completely in the mist. At least it was like that for a full second before another red flash caught her gaze, but this time she wasn't even able to look at the monster properly, making her unable to even react to its next attack

Another bloody cut was now present on Sasuki right leg, and then the red-skinned being once again moved to fast for Sasuki to see, this time slashing at her back

"Guh!" Sasuki grunted in pain, blood easily coming out of her cuts. Her Sharingan finally landed on both the wounds on her shoulder and leg, making a horrified expression to finally appear on her face

Her Sharingan might not have made her immune to the actual effects of this illusion, but at least it told her that it was an illusion. Based on that Sasuki had easily got to the conclusion that this wounds she was receiving were nothing but that, illusions. Tricks of the mind by Yakumo in order to make her give up, but now that she was now actually watching the wounds her Sharingan told her otherwise

They were real. Her wounds, product of an illusion, were actual physical damage to her body, not just a trick of her mind

Sasuki had no time to truly try to comprehend the real power behind Yakumo's illusion though, since the red-skinned figure once again moved in the mist, Sasuki trying her best to follow it with her eyes in order to avoid getting cut again

Unknown to her she wasn't the only one that had realized just exactly how much of a treat Kurama Yakumo actually was

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Naruto_

All the Genins were shocked about what they were seeing. It was pretty obvious that Sasuki had been caught in a Genjutsu from their point of view, but a shocked expression appeared on most of the Genin's faces once Sasuki actually got harmed by what they guessed was the Genjutsu

"B-but how? Genjutsus shouldn't be able to actually harm anything physically!" said an obviously confused and shocked Temari, who couldn't even begin to understand what Yakumo real power is

"Maybe it isn't an illusion? It might be something else!" Menma said, even more lost than the rest. Genjutsu had never been his strong point, but even he knew that illusions shouldn't work like that

"No, it's definitely a Genjutsu" said Naruto; his eyes narrowed at the sight of the fight, doing his best to hide how worried he felt about his friend. Then his gaze landed on Mito, who looked just as confused as everyone else, maybe even more

"Do you know anything about this?" Naruto asked to the red-head, now more interested in Yakumo than ever

Mito for her part just looked at Naruto before shaking her head, her expression still one of shock "No! Yakumo-chan never told me that she could do this" It was true, while Mito knew that Yakumo was really good when it came to Genjutsu, she didn't know that she could something like this

Naruto just nodded at this, his eyes then landing on one of the two individuals that didn't look surprised at all by Yakumo's technique, although considering his clothes it was really hard to tell

"I'm going to guess that you did know about this, didn't you? She's your teammate after all" said Naruto to Shino, practically making him the center of attention between the Genins

Shino for his part just ignored everyone and kept his focus on the fight, making everyone there thing that he wasn't going to talk at all, which wouldn't surprise those that knew him, but then after a few seconds he finally spoke with his normal neutral tone

"I suggest you all to just keep watching the fight, because you're not going to get any answers about my teammates abilities from me" said the Aburame heir, his words practically ending the discussion, and while some of the Genins there, like Menma, Kurotsuchi and Temari, wanted answer they just decided to watch the fight, having a feeling that Shino would not reveal anything

'Sasuki…' Naruto's thoughts went to his teammate and friend, who definitely looked worse than before, with more even wounds and cuts appearing on her body randomly. He was worried about her of course, and felt useless knowing that he could do nothing to help her, but he also had confidence on her, and now she was just waiting for her to turn the fight to her favor

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_In the stands_

Each clan head had their focus on the matriarch of the Kurama clan, Kurama Uroko, waiting to see if she would say something about her daughter's skills. Even Hanabi and Natsumi were also waiting for someone to say anything

The only one not looking at the Kurama matriarch was Zeref, whose eyes were still fixed on the fight. He already knew the details of the Kurama's _**Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit)**_, and while he was a little bit surprised about the fact that Yakumo actually had said ability he didn't show it at all

"So your daughter really has the _**Sakkaku en (Illusion Edge)**_" it was Nara Yoshino the one to actually speak first, gaining a small smile from Uroko

"Indeed she does" was her only answer

"You could have told us that someone in your clan managed to use the full power of your _**Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit)**_" this time it was Mikoto the one who spoke with her eyes narrowed towards the Kurama matriarch

"Oh? But Yakumo-chan made me promise to not tell anyone, saying that she wanted for it to be a surprise. You can't really be expecting for me to break my daughter's trust like that, can you?" Uroko answered back with her hand covering her mouth, hiding the grin that she was sporting at the surprised expression everyone was showing

Mikoto just huffed in response before going back to watch her daughter fight while Kushina patted her back slightly with a chuckle

Another similar situation was happening with the group formed by the Genins and Jonins of Teams 7, 8 and 10 alongside Guy's team, only that in this situation they were all looking at Yakumo's senseis and teammates for answers, which sadly for them they didn't get, although Kurenai did said something towards both Kakashi and Anko about the fight

"Your student is going to need more than just her Sharingan in order to stop Yakumo-chan's Genjutsu" said Kurenai with obvious pride dripping from her voice. While originally her relationship with Yakumo had been strained at best she now couldn't help but feel pride for the girl that was showing everyone that she too could be a Kunoichi

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With the Kages_

"_**Sakkaku en (Illusion Edge)**_…" muttered the Raikage with obvious interest about the _**Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit)**_ that Yakumo was showing

"And here I thought that that _**Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit)**_ was already lost" said Onoki too, his eyes going from the fight to Minato "Of course I'm guessing you knew about this, didn't you?" It was more of a statement than a question, to which Minato simply nodded

"Of course I knew, although I did my best to keep it as a secret per the girl's request" the Hokage answered

"It looks like the Uchiha is not done yet though" the Kazekage said, looking at how Sasuki stopped getting harmed by whatever technique Yakumo was doing, in fact it even looked like Sasuki was dodging the attacks of an invisible enemy

"Is probably that damn Sharingan she has" the Raikage commented, followed by a nod from Onoki

On his head Minato also agreed with A, although it still didn't explain how Sasuki went from the receiving end of a Genjutsu to actually being able to block the effects of said Genjutsu

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Back at the fight_

Sasuki didn't know how she was doing it, but she was actually either dodging or blocking, with the help of her tanto of course, any attacks that the red-skinned being threw at her

Just a few minutes ago she had no choice but to admit that she was losing quite badly. Not only were the attacks that the dual-wielding monster did to her actually hurt her, but with every attack the strong feeling of fear that made her wary at the beginning of the fight became even stronger

Add to that the fact that she could not even see the damn monster and that Yakumo's voice was telling her to just give up every time she got cut and you get one bad situation

But then when she had finally fallen to her knees her eyes became even sharper to the point that she could actually follow the crimson-skinned being when he moved in order to attack her

Not only that but even the illusion itself looked weaker. The red mist covering everything had dissipated a lot to the point that it barely got in the way, and the fear she had been feeling until now was nothing but a thing of the past, changed by anger and a sense of determination

She could even see where Yakumo was, and for some reason that Sasuki didn't get the Kurama heiress looked quite exhausted. Sasuki would have loved to simply dash at her and end the fight, or maybe even use one of her techniques at her, but the red-skinned being was still doing its best to harm her with its swords, so dealing with that took most of hers focus

Unknown to Sasuki the reason for this was that her Sharingan had finally obtained its last tomoe, making it stronger than it was before. She would have smiled in pride and joy if she had known, after all during her training with her parents they had hold her that her Sharingan would fully mature soon if she kept training

Another movement caught Sasuki's attention. She quickly raised her tanto, which she was holding in a reverse grip on her right hand, and blocked the incoming slash from the red-skinned being. That didn't stop it since then it tried to cut her with its other sword, but Sasuki managed to twist her body and dodge the attack

This little routine continued for a while. Sasuki was thinking of ways to stop the illusion once it for all. The only way she could think about was to inflict pain on herself, but she had tried by biting her lip and it hadn't worked. She couldn't do it by any other way since she had to focus on avoiding the attacks of the monster that Yakumo had brought to the fight

During this time Sasuki could easily see that for some reason the Genjutsu was becoming even weaker. It didn't take long for not only the mist to completely disappear, but the red-skinned being even stopped moving, and with one final grunt it disappeared completely, leaving only three people in the arena

Sasuki had plenty of wounds, but all of them weren't that dangerous in her opinion. She had multiple cuts on her back, arms, legs, torso and even one on her right cheek

On the other hand Yakumo looked like she was using all of her strength to actually stay standing. Her breathing was shallow and plenty of sweat was going down from her face. Sasuki just glared at the girl a little bit, who after a few seconds actually fell to her knees since her legs couldn't even hold her body anymore.

Sasuki, who has already realized the state in which her opponent was, calmly moved towards her, wincing a little bit every time she moved

Sasuki reached Yakumo and looked down at her for a few seconds, easily coming to the conclusion that her opponent had no more strength to fight. She just pointed her tanto down at her before speaking with an edge on her voice

"Give up or I'll knock you off" said Sasuki

Surprisingly Yakumo actually managed to raise her head in order to glare at Sasuki, who already had her Sharingan turned off. The glaring contest continued for a few moments before Yakumo released a depressed sigh

"I give up!" Yakumo announced loud enough for Sasuki and Itachi to hear, making the younger Uchiha to lower her weapon and for Itachi to announce it no everyone

"Winner: Uchiha Sasuki!"

Itachi then went and helped the Kurama heiress to stand up, a group of medic-nin quickly coming to their side. Itachi asked Sasuki if she was going to continue, which she of course answered yes. Then before the medic-nins could take Yakumo away Sasuki spoke to her, low enough so that only those around her could hear her

"I guess I shouldn't have underestimated you…" Sasuki said, receiving a neutral glance from Yakumo before she finally decided to speak

"You're right, you shouldn't. I don't know how you lasted this long but next time I will win" Yakumo declared, receiving a raised eyebrow from the raven-haired girl

"Next time I won't even let you move" was the only thing that Sasuki said before she left walking towards the Genin's area while completely ignoring the cheers from the crowd, a frown present on her face during the whole walk

The fight just left a bitter taste on her mouth. She hadn't won 'cause she was the best, she had just won because Yakumo had gotten herself tired and because of luck. If her Sharingan hadn't improved during the fight, which she had already realized, then she would have probably lost to Yakumo's weird Genjutsu

How the well was she supposed to reach to the finals and fight Naruto like that? She had no doubt that her blonde friend will reach the finals, and she wanted to be the one to fight him there, on equal grounds, but now? She almost lost to someone that she considered weak, her pride had taken a heavy blow there and it easily showed on her face

When she reached the stairs she was actually greeted by none other than Naruto, who was just leaning against a wall there, his blue eyes focused on her

"Don't even say it" Sasuki barked out, having an idea of what the blonde was going to tell her, only that she definitely didn't want to hear it. She knew she had messed up so she didn't need a reminder of it

She moved past Naruto towards the higher area, however once she reached the end of the first set of stairs Naruto's voice stopped her completely and it almost made her jump and punch him right there, her wounds being the only thing stopping her

"I told you so"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Well I'm going to be honest with you all, I didn't like this chapter. From all the chapter of this arc (Chunin Exams) this has to be the one that I enjoyed the least while writing it. If you guys don't like this chapter I'll understand it, honestly I thought of other ways for this fights to go but I couldn't go with them without making some characters too overpower, something that I can't do at this point of the fic**

**Next chapters will be better. For those that don't enjoy the fight fest and want me to just skip it, I'm sorry to say that I can't. This arc only has three more chapters anyway**

**Once again the chapter came later than I thought it would so I apologize for that. Next few chapters will definitely come out sooner, but I can't give any specific date because, well, I know myself**

**I want to say thanks to the user **_**Lucian Naruto**_. **He provided me some really awesome fan art for this fic that I will put in my profile soon so that everyone reading this fic can have a better idea of how some character looks**

**And just to make sure since Yakumo's Kekkei Genkai didn't have a name (At least none that I know of) I simply went and called it **_**Sakkaku en (Illusion Edge)**_ **for the sake of giving it a name**

**Next Chapter: The second round comes and goes**


	19. Round Two: A Matter of Pride

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

"Acnologia" Naruto" Normal speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

**Chapter 17**

**Round Two: A Matter of Pride**

_With Alcor_

"**How boring…"** Alcor muttered, his red eyes looking lazily at the center of the arena in which the last fight of the first round had just ended

Just like Alcor had predicted Gaara had defeated his opponent easily. It wasn't that much of a fight in Alcor's opinion though. The Suna Jinchuriki had just stood there, letting his sand to do all the work while his opponent, whose name was Aburame Shino if he remembered well, did his best to try and pass through Gaara's defense

Of course he hadn't been able to do that, even though he tried many times with his little bugs. In the end Gaara had won knocking his opponent down, although the bloodlust was obvious in his eyes, so Alcor ended up just merely surprised by the fact that no one had died in this fights

It didn't really matter to him though. He had already seen humans killing each other countless time before, so these little fights were nothing special in his eyes. The only thing of interest was Naruto's skills, and even then Alcor doubted that his next fight would force him to show everything he had

"**Oh well, one can always hope I guess"** the white-haired man whispered, his expression going from bored to mildly interested towards what was going on in the arena down below

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_At the middle of the stadium_

The next two Genins to fight were already waiting for their match to start, their eyes set on nothing but the other one

Naruto just had a face that showed nothing, almost making him look like he was bored while his opponent, Kurotsuchi, just glared at him with her pink eyes

"I'm going to make you pay for humiliating back in the second task" the Iwa Kunoichi hissed with a glare

At hearing that Naruto released a sigh, wondering if the girl's attitude would somehow make the fight more difficult for him

"Why are you so angry at me anyway? I don't get it" the blonde was honestly curious about this. Of course he already knew the reason itself, he just didn't understand the reasoning behind it

"I mean…" Naruto continued before Kurotsuchi could answer, having a feeling that it would be just more threats "Don't you think you're overreacting a little bit here?" honestly for Naruto it just felt like that. It wasn't like he had killed anyone from her team or actually injured her in the first place. He didn't even do it alone and yet he was the primer victim of this girl's rage

Kurotsuchi's face flushed in rage. Even now he was _still_ talking down on her. She would not let this go away. She would make this little bastard beg for mercy by the end of the fight

And then she would not give him any

"I'm going to kill you" Kurotsuchi said. She didn't yell, in fact her tone didn't even sound angry. She just spoke as if what she said was a fact, something that just made Naruto to release a mental sigh

Itachi for his part just observed both Genins, a little bit curious about what his sister's friend had done in order to deserve the obvious rage that his opponent was feeling towards him. He then saw how both Genins entered their fighting stances; Naruto's face still a mask of nothingness while Kurotsuchi kept her glare at full force

"Hajime!"

"_**Doton: Doryūsō (Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears)**_" Kurotsuchi made her move as soon as Itachi spoke, her hands set firm into the bird hand-seal

Naruto didn't know what the technique did but deciding that it was better to be safe than sorry he quickly moved backwards just before multiple spikes of earth protruded from the ground in the spot he had just been

'She's really trying to kill me, isn't she?' thought the blonde, knowing that he would have been skewed by the spikes if he hadn't moved

He wasn't given any second to breath though since Kurotsuchi used the same technique once again, forcing Naruto to move backwards one more time

Then Kurotsuchi moved towards the first spikes of earth she created while doing hand-seals, ending them by slamming her hands into the ground just behind the spikes

"_**Doton: Tobi Tsubute (Earth Release: Flying Thrown Stones)**_" from the ground the multiple pillars of earth were launched directly at Naruto

The blonde didn't try to dodge; instead he just slammed his hand into the ground, his magic flowing through his body. Then just in front of him a black wall appeared out of nowhere with a black aura surrounding it

The rock formations slammed into the wall, breaking into contact with the magical creation. The blonde then put his hand in the center of the wall and with a push of magic the center of the wall was launched towards Kurotsuchi, stretching to impossible proportions considering how tough the wall itself was

The pink-eyed Genin was forced to move sideways to avoid being hit by the square projectile. She had been surprised when her opponent made that wall since it looked completely different from the defensive techniques she had seen. He hadn't even used any hand-seals! She knew he had a really good affinity towards lightning, but this was completely new for her

Sure she had caught a glimpse of it back at the preliminary rounds, but even then this looked a lot more controlled and dangerous

It also felt that way

Then before she could do anything Naruto appeared behind her with a _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_, surprising Kurotsuchi greatly since those that used that technique in combat were quite rare

She was still able to block the blonde's kick, which was aimed to her face, with her forearm. The blonde followed with a hook to her face, which Kurotsuchi dodged by ducking. Then she retaliated with a sweeping kick but Naruto managed to jump, thus avoiding the attack

The Taijutsu match continued for a few more minutes, and into the eyes of everyone watching it looked like both fighters were equally matched, with only just a handful of people knowing the real difference between the two Genin's strength

One of these individuals was Zeref, who was watching his apprentice carefully. It was obvious to his eyes that Naruto was not fighting with all of his strength. If he wanted it Zeref knew that Naruto could best his opponent easily when it came to Taijutsu just like he did with the Hyuga in his first fight, but right now his movement were slower than normal, which meant that either he was holding back his strength for some reason or that something else was going on

The dark mage was right, something was off with Naruto. The blonde might have acted as if it was nothing, but Neji's last movement really affected him. His body might be able to work properly with just his magic, but his chakra was still mostly off and without it he couldn't just fight like he normally did

It was like every movement was a lot heavier for his body. His body could still work with only just magic, but chakra has been with him longer and his body depended the most on that than in magic

He didn't know if his chakra would get back to work properly without any source of medical attention. He was sure that sooner or later his chakra network would fix itself, but considering that he still had two more fights after this one he would prefer it was done a lot faster

Not only that but with his chakra network blocked off it meant that his magic would not regenerate by using his chakra. Naruto cursed himself mentally; he had let his curiosity for Neji's past to stop him from ending the fight sooner, putting him into this situation

Of course jutsus were now impossible for him. That _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_ he had used before had barely worked and that was putting all the chakra he could actually muster in the technique. He knew that now he had to rely on his magic and nothing else

Putting his focus back on the fight Naruto blocked a series of punches by Kurotsuchi, the fact that he couldn't just overpower his opponent making him a lot more cautious than normal

With his right hand charged with blue electricity Naruto slashed at Kurotsuchi, his hand in a claw-like fashion. The attack hit her forearms when she tried to block, making her hiss in pain at the cut that she now had on her arms

Naruto then kicked her in the stomach, pushing her backwards. She lost her balance but she managed to roll back and stood on her feet quickly, her hands going through more hand-seals

Naruto decided to not dash at her in that moment, not trusting his current speed to be faster than Kurotsuchi's hands

"_**Yōton: Shakugaryūgan no Jutsu (Lava Release: Scorching Stream Rock Technique)**_!" then something that truly shocked not only Naruto but most of the people watching the fight happened. From her mouth Kurotsuchi quickly spat _lava_ in different intervals, some of the lava going directly at Naruto while other was shot upwards which would then rich the blonde once they went down

Quickly the lava solidified itself, becoming nothing but multiple bullets of molten rock that were quite deadly. Of course the blonde knew that there existed more elemental techniques besides the five main ones since both Haku's and Pakura's own special type of techniques

He still couldn't hide the surprise from his face. He definitely wasn't expecting to face something like this. He knew that if one of those bullets touched him he was as good as dead

Now knowing if he would be able to dodge each single one at this distance Naruto quickly smashed his fist to the ground, a dome of darkness appearing around him in order to protect him from the onslaught

While doing body gestures was not necessary for him to use his _**Yami no Maho (Darkness Magic)**_, he still found it more easy to create things if it was accompanied by some sort of movement, unlike his sensei who could easily create things with only a thought and without any source of warning. His sensei was also a lot faster than him when it came to casting, which is why his little dome was barely able to form before the attacks reached him

He felt each ball of lava that reached his dome. The only reason for the structure to not get destroyed by the attacks was because Naruto kept pouring magic on it, reinforcing it every time it got weakened by Kurotsuchi's attack

Once the attacks stopped coming Naruto released a breath he didn't even know he was holding. Then with a quick movement of his hand the dome around him disappeared, but that only made Naruto alarmed since his opponent wasn't on the place he had last seen her

"_**Yōton: Sekkaigyō no Jutsu (Lava Release: Quicklime Congealing Technique)**_" What the blonde didn't know was that Kurotsuchi had actually followed his lead and used the _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_ in order to move to the backside of Naruto's dome, which is way the blonde heard the technique being used from behind him

Naruto quickly tried to roll out of the way, not knowing what kind of technique Kurotsuchi had just used but also knowing that he had no time to figure it out. He managed to dodge a direct hit but the technique still managed to hit the left said of his body, covering his left arm and leg with some sort of white powder

The damn thing actually burned his skin in his left hand and even destroyed part of the clothes it touched, although not that much

Naurto finally turned to look directly at his opponent, who was sporting a smirk that made Naruto remember the expression Sasuki made every time she bested someone. She was also finishing another set of hand-seals that she had started as soon as she had ended her last technique

"_**Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Release: Water Trumpet)**_!" Kurotsuchi put her hands around her mouth and then spat a large jet of water. However it wasn't aimed at Naruto, in fact she actually threw the technique upwards, the water then falling upon both Genins and the arena as if it was raining

Naruto was left confused for a moment before the effects of Kurotsuchi's combo finally kicked in. Once the water entered in contact with the part of his clothes and body that had touched the white powder of Kurotsuchi's previous technique it started to harden, and it just a couple of seconds Naruto was left with the left part of his body covered in a cement-like substance

It felt really heavy on his body. Combined with how weak his body had already felt before Naruto knew that he could no longer move freely in this situation. He ended up releasing a little growl, his inexperience at dealing with something like _**Yōton (Lava Release)**_ had cost him a lot, and his own decision to not spent a lot of magic in this fight just made it worst

"How does it feel? Ready to admit that you lost?" Kurotsuchi taunted the blonde, already thinking that she had won since he was caught on her trap. She knew that he could do seal-less techniques but she wasn't going to give him a chance

Naruto was yet to be defeated though, and as soon as Kurotsuchi started doing more hand-seals he sprung into action. With a flick of his hand a completely black chain shot out of his right palm at an amazing speed, shocking Kurotsuchi. She was not able to react at time and the chain reached its objective. It tied itself around one of Kurotsuchi's legs, and before the Iwa Kunoichi could do anything the blonde made his next move

He puller the chain quite hardly

Of course Kurotsuchi's leg was pulled too, making the girl to lose her balance and fall backwards to the ground, her head slamming harder than anything else

The blonde took advantage of this and released electricity out of the parts of his body that were covered in cement. Quickly the material started to crumble off his body, although the burning sensation was still on his left hand

Kurotsuchi, who was now sitting on the ground, took out a kunai in order to destroy the chain that was still wrapped around her ankle. She reinforced her kunai with _**Doton (Earth Release)**_ chakra, making it a lot harder just in case this weird chain proved to be resistant enough. She was still completely lost about how her stupid opponent could do this thing with what she guessed was chakra, but she wasn't going to stay sit and look at the chain all day in order to learn from it

However once she raised her kunai in order to strike the chain another black chain shot out of Naruto's now free left palm and tied itself around Kurotsuchi's wrist on her raised arm

Kurotsuchi looked at the second chain in surprise, her pink eyes then going towards Naruto who was holding the other end of both chains.

Then it came the pain

From his end Naruto charged the two chains with lighting, the electricity traveling quickly through the construct of dark magic, going from bright blue to crimson red the closer it got to Kurotsuchi

The Iwa nin grunted in pain once the electricity reached her. She quickly lost hold of her kunai, her body arching in pain. She refused to scream though, since for her it would be accepting the fact that this bastard had just bested her again. She kept her teeth gritted against each other and her eyes close, doing her best to hold the scream of pain that wanted to escape her mouth

It wasn't much longer for her to finally pass out, prompting Naruto to stop sending waves of lightning, the chains connecting them both finally disappearing as if they were made of glass

Kurotsuchi was unconscious, with actual smoke coming out of her body, some of her limps twitching randomly. Itachi quickly approached the now unconscious Kunoichi to check on her. He did so quickly before announcing the obvious result of the fight

"Winner: Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto!"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_On the stands_

Of course just like before people were cheering, although definitely in a less enthusiastic fashion compared to the other Uzumaki-Namikaze siblings' fights

The clan heads were all showing different amounts of interest, awe and confusion towards the fight itself, Inuzuka Tsume being the first one to talk

"I didn't know your pup also had those chains of yours, Kushina-chan. I thought only you and Natsumi-chan had them" The Inuzuka clan head commented, her eyes going from the arena towards her long time friend alongside everyone around her

Of course they were shocked when instead of seeing pride or something like a knowing look on Kushina's face they only saw her eyes wide in shock while her hand was over her mouth

Kushina could not believe this. Her son could use the _**Kongō Fūsa (Adamantine Sealing Chains)**_ just like her and Natsumi. Sure his version looked different since his chains were black while both hers and Natsumi's were golden, but what else could it be? Her sochi could use one of the techniques that made the Uzumaki feared in the past!

She had been heartbroken when none of her triplets had the ability to use the _**Kongō Fūsa (Adamantine Sealing Chains)**_ since it probably meant that the technique would die with her, but then when Natsumi had showed her that she could do them she had been more than happy and excited about passing her knowledge about the clan technique to one of her children

Right now Kushina was feeling both happiness and sadness, a couple of things she was now getting used to feel every time her eldest son came as a subject. For one part she was more than happy than her son had the same skill that she had. In her head she decided that it could be away from them to start bonding once again. It could be a way from to fix their relationship. She would offer to teach him. She knew he would probably say no, but no one else would be able to teach him about that properly so she just hoped that her son's interest in learning overruled the dislike he had for her

She felt sad too of course. Her son had such a skill that she should have helped him to develop and learn, and yet she hadn't done any of that. From what she had just seen Naruto was not new to those chains, meaning that he had known he was able to use them for a while but still decided to keep it as a secret. That hurt a lot. Did he really trust their family so little that he would hide a part of his legacy from them as if they were just estrangers?

Just besides her Natsumi was sporting one of the biggest smiles anyone has ever seen on her face. Why was she so happy? Because her Naruto-nii had those awesome chakra chains just like her and their Kaa-chan! Of course she was a little put out by the fact that he had hidden that from her but it didn't matter! She was just too happy to care about that!

Because now it meant that her Naruto-niichan could train with her! Don't get her wrong, she loved to train with her Kaa-chan and Tou-chan, but she always did it alone. She rarely trained alongside Mito-neechan and Menma-niichan because of the different things they learned from her and their difference in skills, but now that she had something in common with Naruto-niichan it meant that they could train and spend more time together!

The past month had been very lonely for the young red-head. Her Kaa-chan and Tou-chan had focused more than anything in her sibling's training, and that was if Tou-chan wasn't working late because of everything he had to prepare for the Finals

Of course she had many friends to play within the Academy, although for some reason Hanabi-chan always denied being her friend but she just guessed that was her just being shy about it, but she still preferred to spend time with her family more than anyone else, after all both her parents had always taught her how important family was

It was for that reason that when she had found Naruto-niichan just a few days back she had jumped at the chance of spending time with him, and now she would be able to do it more! Sure he might be a little bit too serious when compared to the rest of their family but so what? That just made him cooler!

For his part Zeref had his eyes set firmly of Kushina. He had come here for three reasons, the first one being of course to see how good his student faired in this tournament. The second reason being to interfere in case Naruto used the last thing he taught him the past month, which could easily create too many issues if left unchecked

The last reason was to actually look more closely to one of the members of the Uzumaki-Namikaze clan, this person being Kushina herself. Zeref has been interested in the blood relatives of his apprentice for quite a while, so of course he had taken the first chance he had to look closely to one of them

He had been watching over Naruto every since the Kyubi incident fifteen years ago, and ever since then he had never understood this family. Zeref wasn't unfamiliar with parents neglecting their children or abusing them, he had seen quite of that back on his own world, but when it came to this clan it just felt too unnatural on his eyes

It wasn't just the members of his family but everyone around his apprentice. Before he had started teaching him Naruto was truly alone, with a good portion of the village disliking him just because of some stupid birthmarks that he had on his face. Even that black-haired woman that had taken care of him when he was a baby had ended up just forgetting completely about the blonde, and that was just suspicious on his head

Besides it was also too convenient in Zeref's opinion. The one person he had to train was also the one that was so alone that had jumped at the chance of learning from a complete stranger? The whole situation was just too fishy in the Dark Lord's mind, but right now the only thing he could was to wait and see

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With the Kages_

All four Kages were left in silence at the end of the fight, none of them daring to speak first

When Kurotsuchi had showed her _**Yōton (Lava Release)**_ the Tsuchikage got plenty of questioning glances to which he just answered with a smirk while just behind him Roshi smiled proudly since he had been teaching the young Iwa Kunoichi how to use those techniques properly

But now Onoki was sporting nothing but a frown. He had honestly expected for his granddaughter to win this thing, but in the end the Hokage's spawn had proved to be a lot more trouble that he had given him credit for

"And with that Iwa is no more" the Raikage ended up speaking first with a smirk, earning a growl from Onoki, whose eyes then landed on Minato

"I see that your son has those annoying chains your wife also has, Hokage" Onoki commented, getting just a sharp nod from the blonde Kage, whose expression hided his internal turmoil

Just like his wife he couldn't believe that his son could actually use the_** Kongō Fūsa (Adamantine Sealing Chains)**_.In a world where Bijuus and Jinchurikis were considered the ultimate weapons those chains were also considered one of the best ways to fight against them. He had thought that those chains would die with his wife before his youngest child actually showed the aptitude to use them, but now Naruto could do them too?

His heart went to his wife, knowing how bad she was probably feeling right now. He didn't let that to show on his face though, although now more than ever he was sure that he had to have a serious conversation with his older son about his abilities. Those weird black shields of his were something he had never seen before. He had ended up lying that it was an old Uzumaki technique when A asked about it during the fight

Behind him both Jiraiya and Orochimaru were also doing their best to hide their thoughts. For Jiraiya it was his surprise and interest at his godson's abilities, especially those chains of him and his incredible lightning affinity. He had wanted to not only start teaching him stuff and even make him a toad summoner just like him, Minato and Menma so that he had at least a chance of winning the Exams

But right now it looked like he was one of the biggest treats of the tournament. His mind was wondering the same question though

Who had trained him?

Orochimaru for his part just tried to hide the fear from showing on his face. Those black creations of the blonde just made him remember some rather horrible things that he would rather forget

Sadly his brain didn't let him

"It looks like this is now a competition between our villages, Hokage-san" the Kazekage said, earning a more relaxed nod and a small smile from Minato, a huff from the Raikage and a sigh from Onoki

"Lest the best one win"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With the Genins_

The remaining Genin, namely Naruto, Sasuki, Mito and Gaara were now watching the second fight of the second round, that one being between Menma and Temari

Naruto had not been surprised when once he had gotten back to where his fellow Genins were he had practically being interrogated by Mito about his chains while Menma simply glared at him until he left for his fight, muttering something that sounded like "what a waste"

He had been expecting this type of reaction for a while, after all the chains he made with his _**Yami no Maho (Darkness Magic)**_ looked too much like the _**Kongō Fūsa (Adamantine Sealing Chains)**_, which of course was something that only Natsumi and Kushina could use

Naruto had opted to just ignore the girl, really not feeling like talking about it right now. His body was still weak with most of his chakra cut off, his left arm and leg still hurt because or Kurotsuchi's last technique, in fact he even had burn marks on his skin there. At least he had done his best to fight without using much magic

He already had a little idea as to how get to back to his normal self but that would have to wait until his next fight

Sadly he needed for Menma to actually win his fight for his plan to work

Mito had still persisted, ending up with Sasuki basically telling the girl to just shut up. This had erupted into another fight between the two members of Team 7 that only ended once Naruto told them that they should watch the fight and that he would not explain his techniques at the middle of a tournament. He also told them that they would have plenty of time to fight as soon as Menma finished up his fight

That silenced both girls well enough

Gaara stood in silence during the whole situation, although his eyes were looking directly at Naruto the whole time. Of course the blonde knew of this but he decided to not call the guy on it, not seeing any reason to get upset about it

Although the amount of killing intent that the Suna Genin showed was certainly worrisome

The fight itself between Menma and Temari involved a _lot_ of Ninjutsu being throw around. Considering how both were mostly ranger fighters it wasn't a surprise.

Temari spend most of his time trying to hit Menma with her wind attacks while stating out of range of his techniques while Menma did his best to overpower the Suna Kunoichi

At least it looked like Menma had done his homework since he never used lighting techniques, which were weak against wind. He focused on using water and wind techniques, without of course the every so clone here and there

Of course the fight had to end sooner or later, and it did once Menma managed to dispose of Temari's fan by using a combination of wind and water

Just like Naruto had hoped, although he would rather die than to admit that, Menma won. Without her fan Temari wasn't able to keep up with the blonde, ending up with her defeat

Of course everyone watching cheered in excitement, and just like with his previous fight Menma waved at them happily while Temari retrieved her broken fan, both of them then leaving the area towards different places

On the stands Anko was practically doing a little celebration dance while Kakashi just chuckled and everyone else just looked at her as if she had lost her mind. The reason for that is that now that her four cute little Genins had reached so far it was practically impossible for not one of them to actually win it, and of course being the sensei of the team that reached so far into something like this was certainly good for her job

The fact that most of them were using skills learned by someone that wasn't her or Kakashi never once crossed her mind

Then the next fight was announced and both Sasuki and Mito were more than ready to settle some things. The winner of that fight would then face Gaara in the semifinals because of the number of Genins that had reached the final task

Menma of course wished good luck to his sister, opting to support her rather than his other teammate for obvious reasons. Naruto for his part wished Sasuki the same, receiving just a nod in return

Mito then stood there, looking at Naruto with a combination of sadness and longing. Before Menma could start ranting, something that his angry expression showed he would do, Naruto gave a nod to the red-head before simply turning and looking down to the arena

Mito, knowing that she would probably not get anything better from him right now just nodded back and left after telling Menma to don't do anything stupid or starting fights

Both girls came down to the arena, and they could swear that the cheering they were getting was the greatest one that this tournament had gotten.

They both went to their position and immediately entered their fighting stance, black eyes glaring at angry violet ones

"I'm going to enjoy this" Sasuki hissed, more than ready to beat the crap out of her annoying teammate

"I didn't know you enjoying losing, Sasuki-_chan_" Mito shot back, earning a growl from the raven-haired girl "As if I would lose to someone that depends on her pretty eyes to win fights"

"Says the one whose only redeemable quality is the fox that she has on her gut. Are you two best friends already?" Sasuki didn't stay quite though, and Itachi could easily see that both Genins were more than ready to just jump into action at any second

"Oh boy…" Itachi muttered under his breath, already having the feeling that this fight would be a lot more vicious than the previous one. At least both Kunoichi were talking low enough that only the three of them could hear their words

"Hajime!" wanting to stop any type of trash talk that both members of Team 7 could do Itachi started the fight and promptly moved back out of the danger zone

Just as he announced the beginning of the fight Sasuki practically disappeared from where she was, making Mito's eyes to go wide in shock at what she knew was nothing but sheer speed

The Uchiha appeared behind Mito, making the girl to try and turn around. It was worthless though since Sasuki quickly threw a punch right at her face, hitting her in the cheek

Sasuki once again moved too fast for Mito to react and quickly slammed her fist right into Mito's stomach. The attack packed a lot of strength and it ended sending the red-head stumbling back a little bit, making some distance between them

Sasuki jumped backwards while her hands moved in a blur while going through the hand-seals for her technique

"_**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)**_!" Sasuki spat a big fireball from her mouth, the fire attack being large enough to easily engulf an adult

Mito just gasped for air before moving backwards quickly, feeling the intense heat coming from the fireball. Her hands were also going through hand-seals, although hers were definitely shorter

"_**Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Release: Wild Water Wave)**_" from her mouth she spat a stream of water that moved like a waterfall, her attack quickly meeting Sasuki's, both techniques canceling each other and leaving a thick wall of mist

"_**Mizu Tatsumaki (Tornado of Water)**_!" Another set of hand-seals quickly activated Mito's next technique. In just a second a tornado of water appeared around her, protecting her from the multiple shurikens that Sasuki had just threw at her

The black-eyed girl, although her Sharingan was now on, was going to dash right at her opponent but the appearance of the formation of water stopped her right on her tracks

She wasn't given to think into anything though, since just after a few seconds the tornado disappeared and from its place three Mito look alike sprang into action while the original one stayed behind

All three or the clones met Sasuki with their swords, her Sharingan easily recognizing the wind chakra added to their blades

With the help of her Sharingan Sasuki was actually able to dodge the barrage of slashes that came at her. She didn't get unharmed though, but the cuts she got were pretty superficial, with most of them being on her arms

Sasuki of course tried to get the upper hand against the clones but they were seriously not letting her any chance. Then out of sudden the clones practically stopped at mid swing and moved slightly, making enough space for the real Mito to enter with a powerful downguard slash

Sasuki was barely able to block it with her tanto, but then she felt Mito's palm actually touching her stomach. Sasuki had no time to react and with only a little murmur escaping Mito's mouth working as a warning Sasuki was blasted away by a powerful torrent of water coming out of Mito's hand

For Sasuki it honestly felt like someone had slammed a hammer right on her stomach. The Uchiha ended up rolling on the ground after being blasted away by the attack. Once she finally stopped rolling she did her best to stand up quickly while recovering the air that had just left her lungs, one of her hands grabbing her stomach

She honestly felt lucky that none of her ribs were broken by that attack. In just that moment Sasuki felt like using the technique that Kakashi taught her the past month, after all if Mito was going to aim to hurt her as much as she could then she might as well do the same!

She quickly shook that thought out of her head though. Sure she was pissed off at Mito, but that didn't mean that she wanted her dead. Besides Kakashi had been very clear about never using that technique against a comrade and while she wasn't very fond of the one-eyed Jonin she would at least respect his wishes at that. It was his technique after all

Although if Mito even tried to use that fricking ball of chakra that her brother liked to use so much then she was going to stab a _**Chidori (One Thousand Birds)**_ right up her ass

As soon as Sasuki stood up she saw multiple water bullets going right at her. The Uchiha smirked for a moment before doing just a few hand-seals, ready to use what was probably her stronger technique besides the _**Chidori (One Thousand Birds)**_

"_**Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique)**_!" the Uchiha spat a gigantic ball of fire, easily doubling the size of the fireball that she had used before. Not only that but the gigantic ball of fire actually had the form of a dragon, making it look even more menacing that it already was

The attack moved fast, easily destroying the water bullets that were coming at Sasuki. The original Mito was barely able to escape the range of the attack. Her clones weren't so lucky though, each one getting destroyed by the dragon-like fireball

Sasuki was left panting, the last technique she had just used depleting her chakra reserved by quite a lot. She tched in annoyance when she saw that her rival had avoided the technique, making both of them standing with quite a lot of space between them

She was damn tired; her chakra was a lot lower than she would like and even keeping her Sharingan on was making her tired. Her whole situation became worse when she saw that Mito looked perfectly fine

She cursed her opponent's stamina and the fact that Yakumo had proven to be tougher than she thought it would. It was then that Sasuki saw Mito start going through a set of hand-seals in a sequence that she had never seen

Sasuki dashed at Mito while going through her own set of hand-seals. Mito might have started first but it was obvious that her technique required less seals. Of course she knew that whatever technique Mito was trying to do it was probably a water one, meaning that she would have the elemental disadvantage, so the only thing she could do was to once again use her strongest technique with the hope that it would simply be stronger than Mito's

As soon as Sasuki shorted the distance by half she used her jutsu, followed quickly by Mito using her own water technique

"_**Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique)**_!" just like before Sasuki spat another gigantic dragon-like fireball, although this was obviously smaller than the last one, which quickly traveled towards the red-head

"_**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)**_!" just in front of Mito a massive quantity of water started forming, quickly taking the form of a snake-like dragon

The water formation quickly shot itself at the flaming ball, but instead of just smashing against it the water dragon actually coiled itself around the fire attack. The water technique itself was barely of the size of the fire bullet, and now that it was around the fire jutsu it was becoming even smaller

But then with another movement the water dragon squeezed the dragon-like fire until it actually disappeared, making Sasuki's eyes to go wide

What was left of the water serpent quickly smashed just in front of Sasuki, the raven-haired girl having no other choice but to try and shield her body with her arms in an attempt to protect herself

Of course the collision of the attack accompanied by the amount of water that moved like a wave after the dragon hit the ground was more than enough to send Sasuki down once again with even some water entering her lungs

Sasuki was face down on the ground, coughing like crazy because of the water in her lungs. Her whole body was aching in pain, barely responding to her in her exhausted state when she tried to spin around in order to be face up

However once managed to turn she was hit by a sudden increase in weight on her stomach making her cough even more, courtesy of Mito who was now sitting on top of the Uchiha

Sasuki couldn't even try and raise her head. Why? Because Mito's sword was now positioned right over her neck. Uchiha Sasuki would never admit it, hell even thinking about it hurt her, but right there she was at Mito's mercy

And she hated it

So she did the only thing she could do in that position and glared at the violet-eyed girl, a glare that Mito returned easily and without fear, after all Sasuki had her Sharingan turned off and she doubted she would be able to use again right now

Then surprising the Uchiha, Mito actually leaned down until her head got close enough so that her lips were just besides Sasuki's hear

"Let's make one thing clear, Sasuki" Mito's voice came as cold as a tundra, something truly rare from the red-head Jinchuriki "If you _ever_ hurt Naruto-nii, if you ever even _think_ about hurting him at all… I'll kill you"

Sasuki's eyes went wide at her declaration before they were filled with rage. The fact that Mito thought she would hurt Naruto on purpose made her madder than she had ever felt, and the fact that she was actually threatening her like that just made her wish that she had gone with her plan of ramming a _**Chidori (One Thousand Birds)**_ at her

Then Mito raised her head, making Sasuki able to look at how cold her eyes were, just like her voice "Understood?" the red-head continued talking, only that she didn't even wait for Sasuki to answer and instead just stood up while dusting her clothes, the cold look she had now turning into a neutral one

She tried to leave but Sasuki's voice stopped her, which was soft enough so that, like with the rest of the conversation, only they could hear

"He hates you" Sasuki said as if it was a fact, which she believed it was, after all she wasn't blind, she could tell that Naruto had a dislike for his family, which was why she had sought out some answers the past month, although that didn't end very well in the first place. She also knew that she might be exaggerating a little bit since she didn't knew the details but right now she just wanted to get under Mito's skin as much as she could

She couldn't see the expression Mito was showing since she could only see her back but based on how tight her hand was holding that sword of hers she guessed that her words had worked, so she decided to go on

"I don't know what you or your family did, but for Naruto to actually hate you… I think the one that should be warned about hurting him is you, not me" for a moment Sasuki was sure that Mito was going to turn around and at least slapped her, but in the end the red-head just kept walking, acting as if she hadn't heard Sasuki's words at all

The two Kunoichi were so invested in their conversation that they had completely ignored the cheering of the crow, the announcement of Mito as the winner of the fight and Itachi himself coming to pick up his sister

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Told you the chapter would come out sooner, didn't I? A hard part of writing these fights is the fact that I can't go all out with the characters. A lot of them still have a lot to learn so right now I have to make fights with the character's current strength, which is a little bit low for my liking right now, but that's just me**

**For those that wanted or expected more between Kurotsuchi and Naruto, don't worry. She will appear soon after this arc **

**I don't really know how much time it takes for the Tenketsu points to be properly opened after being closed without any external help, so for the sake of the fic let's just go with the "it takes a while" amount of time**

**Of course thank to all that read, reviewed, followed and favorited(?) this fic. I never expected for so many people to like considering how many cliché parts it has, at least right now**

**Next Chapter: Mage vs Jinchuriki**


	20. Semifinals: A Battle of Hate

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

"Acnologia" Naruto" Normal speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

**Chapter 18**

**Semifinals: A Battle of Hate**

_With Alcor_

"**Finally! I was starting to think I would have to go with Plan B a little sooner at this rate just out of boredom"** the white-haired man said, his red eyes shining in anticipation at the spectacle that was going to start in about a few minutes

The first fight of the Semifinals was just about to start, and with the participants being Naruto and Menma, Alcor couldn't hide the excitement he had for this fight

If everything went as planned, and he knew it would, then this would the final nail on the coffin that Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto was. Not only Alcor would be able to watch firsthand the blonde's power, but if everything went according to his calculations then Naruto's position under his lord Shinigami-sama would be unquestionable!

Of course the fact that Zeref still acted like an ungrateful little bastard had put a damper to his plan, but he knew how humans acted, he had been watching them for a long time ago after all, so he was more than sure that he could predict Naruto's action by the end of the fight

"**Oh Menma-kun, I will always remember you with fondness. You were such a good little side project of mine! But now is time for you to fulfill your role"** Alcor said with fake sadness dripping from his voice just before his smile returned to his lips

He wasn't sure about the how or even the when exactly, but he was sure of something

Uzumaki-Namikaze Menma will die in this fight

And Naruto will be the one to end his life

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With the Kages_

Every person in the Kage's booth was looking straight at the Hokage of the village, with the exception of Minato himself of course. They were looking at him almost as if expecting some sort of revelation from the blonde Namikaze

"Who do you think will win, Hokage-san?" in the end it was Rasa the one to bring up the question everyone had on their head, after all if someone knew about the real extent of both Genin's strength it was their father, or so they believed

Sadly the knowledge that Minato had was restricted to Menma only. When it came to Naruto he only knew as much as he had seen and been told about, which in retrospective wasn't much

The only things Minato knew for real was that his son had an affinity towards both lighting and wind, had skills that easily surpassed those of a Genin, heck maybe even those of a Chunin. He apparently could use the _**Kongō Fūsa (Adamantine Sealing Chains)**_ and could use techniques that he had never seen before that allowed him to create different kinds of shields and barriers

He also had a sword strapped to waist so it was safe to assume that he had some sort of knowledge about sword fighting, although Minato had not been able to see exactly how good he was at that

He also couldn't help but to compare his son's personalities. While Menma was outgoing, loud, stubborn, quite hot-headed and confident to the point of being arrogant, Naruto was, for what he knew from the reports Kakashi had told him and from what he had seen himself, calm, collected, serious to the point of acting aloof most of the time. He was also quite intelligent and calculative; in fact he was probably the most strategic Genin from his team

He was also confident, but unlike his brother he didn't let that to get to his head, something that Minato was glad about. In the end Minato knew that Menma's arrogant behavior was his fault. Menma, alongside Mito of course, had been raised with praises coming at him every day from practically everyone, from Jiraiya when he learned any techniques to _any_ civilian, and even a lot of Shinobis and Kunoichis, that he met

In fact now that Minato thought about it, it was probably a miracle that Mito hadn't ended with an ego big enough to rival her brother's

"It's too hard for me to decide" the blonde Kage ended up answering, doing his best to hide his lack of knowledge by giving an ambiguous answer "I believe they are close enough when it comes to their individual strength, but each have a few advantaged over the other that might decide the result of the fight"

His answer simply got nods from almost everyone, the exception being Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who of course knew that what Minato had just said was practically bullshit, and the Tsuchikage himself who, even though he would accept that Minato had lied perfectly, was able to detect the fact that Minato was just evading the question

After all he was the eldest Kage alive. He had been playing this game for a long time, and with his age it came the experience

Before he would have easily said that Menma, being a Jinchuriki and all, had the fight in the bag, but now he was not so sure. The other Hokage's spawn had not only bested his own granddaughter but he obviously had more than a few set of skills hidden

Not only that but the way in which the blonde carried himself, alongside those weird black creations of his, reminded Onoki of a man he had met many years ago. He hadn't spent much time in the man's presence, but the few meetings they had were quite memorable, even for someone of his age

After all it wasn't everyday that a person managed to best him, escape his village during a war and then disappear to never been seen again

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Naruto and Menma_

Both blondes were looking straight at each other's eyes, with Menma having to look up a little bit since Naruto was taller by a couple of inches. Their eyes showed exactly what they were feeling right now, with Menma's sky blue eyes showing repressed anger that was going to get released at any second, and Naruto's dark blue ones simply showing cold apathy with a slight edge on them

Both Uzumaki-Namikaze siblings had of course received words of encouragement from the female of the triplets, which even included the red-head catching both blondes in a hug that had them more than a little uncomfortable, Menma because the hug also involved Naruto and Naruto simply because of the fact that he was being hugged

He had to control himself there before he pushed her away. Phisical shows of affection were something that Naruto was quite uncomfortable about. His sensei being who he was hardly did stuff like that, with a pat on the head being the most that Zeref had ever shared with him that he hadn't started himself

Sasuki of course never did stuff like that. In fact he couldn't even remember if he had ever even hugged the girl. Not that he blamed her of anything mind you. He knew how she was and that if she ever did something as embrace him it meant that either hell was now frozen or one of them was dying

Heck, the person that had probably gotten closest to him, at least physically of course, had to be Haku, and even that was mostly the ice user healing his wounds during training

Anyway after that both members of Team 7 descended to the arena in a tense silence, something that had actually surprised Naruto a lot since he thought that Menma, being who he was, was going to start yapping as much as he could

And now both Genins were about to start their fight while the stadium cheered, although it was obvious for Naruto that they were mostly cheering for Menma. Not that he cared about that anyway

"I'm going to put you in your place" in the end Menma couldn't help but to throw a comment, getting just a raised eyebrow from the blonde mage

"Whatever" Naruto just dismissed the comment, not caring in the slightest about anything that could came out of Menma's mouth

The blonde could even kneel right now and beg for forgiveness and Naruto would still not give a crap

Some of the people watching the soon to begging fight were sporting anxious looks. After all they knew exactly just how bad the relationship between the two brothers was, and they knew exactly how that could make the fight escalate into a destructive conflict

Zeref for his part was just hoping that his apprentice didn't kill the blonde Jinchuriki. Of course if he was forced to do it then there was nothing anyone could do about it, but if Naruto killed him in cold blood that would just bring too much issues in the future

It would also force the dark mage to act sooner, which was the last thing he wanted to do right now

Itachi for his part just observed both Genins with a calculative gaze. He had the duty to stop any unnecessary killing as the referee of this event. Sure killing was not against the rules, only frowned upon, and even then if the situation demanded it there was nothing anyone could do if someone died, but there was still a limit. Attacking or killing someone after the fight ended was strictly provided, and while he didn't think this fight would turn out like that he was still more than ready to act if it was necessary

"Hajime!" having no reason to prolong this any longer Itachi announced the beginning of the fight, prompting both Genins to react quickly

"_**Fūton: Reppūshō (Wind Release: Gale Palm)**_!" Menma quickly slammed his palms against each other just before releasing a powerful gust of wind from his hands that was aimed directly at Naruto's chest

The blonde had moved faster though, and before Menma even used his technique he was already making his move. With his right hand just above his head and a clear picture of it in his mind Naruto created something that he had practically seen and _felt_ everyday for the past month

A massive black broadsword appeared just in front of him so quickly that it almost looked like it appeared in a black flash, with Naruto's right hand holding up the handle with the sword itself being diagonal to Naruto's body, its flat side facing both blondes

For those that had never seen something like that they might believe that it was just one intimidating and imposing swords, but for those that knew better were able to recognize the sword as a perfect copy of the _**Kubikiribōchō (Decapitating Carving Knife)**_, the blade of one Momochi Zabuza

Menma's wind attack ended up hitting the flat side of Naruto's sword, which of course protected him from the direct hit of the wind blast, although he was pushed back a little bit

Naruto half expected for Menma to follow up with something, but the blonde Jinchuriki only had a stupefied expression on his face, almost as if he couldn't believe what Naruto had just done

"What the hell is that?!" Menma ended up asking, which made Naruto wonder for a moment if his blood relative was so stupid that he had forgotten that he was in a fight. Then he remembered how curiosity could make people do stupid things, his fight with Neji being a prime example of that

"This is a sword, Menma" Naruto spoke in the most condescending tone he could muster while moving the broadswords as it if was weightless, which to him it practically was anyway, making Menma to growl at him and to get back his focus on the fight, only that Naruto was not done yet

"Want to get a closer look?" Naruto asked, and almost immediately after that he actually _threw_ the broadsword directly at Menma, making his eyes go wide and forcing him to quickly move to the side in order to avoid a direct impact

Of course Naruto didn't throw the sword as hard as he could since it would do him no good if Menma got maimed too early in the fight. No, for his plan to work, and for him to have a chance against whomever he faced in the finals, he needed to play with Menma for a while first if he wanted to get his plan to work properly

The sword imbued itself in the ground just besides Menma, who had managed to move out of the way just before it reached him. Menma's attention was more in the sword that on Naruto, which was no surprise considering that the sword was releasing an eerie glow

Then with a flick of Naruto's hand the sword actually broke into dozens of glass like objects, all of them floating on the area on which the sword had been before

Menma had barely time to move before the multiple shards of darkness came upon him, forcing him to do his best to avoid them. He practically ran in a random pattern while doing his best to avoid the shards, although Naruto clearly hear him yelp when one of them actually cut his cheek a little bit

As soon as a shard touched the ground it disappeared. When the number of objects became significantly less Menma took out a kunai and did his best to block the incoming projectiles while walking backwards

Of course since his focus had been on avoiding the deadly projectiles he didn't noticed the fact that Naruto had moved until the blonde appeared just besides him in a instant and smashed his fist right in his face with enough force to send him rolling to the ground

There was no lighting in the attack though, since Naruto didn't want to use that much of his magic until Menma did what he expected for him to do. It wasn't like he had low reserves of magic of course, but he still felt that it was best to be safe than sorry

"_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clones Technique)**_!" Menma was quick to regain his footing, and with a glare he called several clones to his side, each one of them more than ready to beat the crap out of Naruto

Of course Naruto himself had already predicted that this would be one of Menma's moves, after all Menma was a lot of things, and predictable was definitely one of them in the mage's eyes

As soon as Menma called his clone Naruto moved, putting as much magic as he could in his legs so that his movements weren't as sluggish as they had been against Kurotsuchi, but also enough so that his body could actually manage the amount of energy focused on it

He dashed at the group of blondes, although for them he looked more like a blur, a hand gripping the handle of the katana he had tightened to his waist. While Naruto was not a big fan of using this sword since he always had the strange feeling that he was being watched when he did, he still couldn't hide the fact that in a situation like this it was definitely easier to use it than to just create one with his magic

With one quick movement Naruto unsheathed his sensei's sword and with his momentum he slashed at the many clones that were in front of Menma, the sword going through them like a hot knife going through butter

In the end only two clones remained, and that was just because they were out of Naruto's reach during his initial strike since they were standing besides Menma while the rest was in front of them

The two clones tried to attack Naruto, but the blond easily dispatched them with another swing of his blade, too fast for either of the clones to actually avoid. Menma was given enough time though, and he certainly took advantage of that

"_**Suiton: Hahonryū (Water Release: Tearing Torrent)**_!" Menma jumped backwards quickly before throwing at Naruto the water technique he had on his hand, which was basically water that covered Menma's hand and that was also spiraling at a considerate speed

That was the reason that when Menma launched the technique it almost looked like a drill made out of water was going directly at Naruto. The blonde mage didn't look affected at all by this. He didn't even try to dodge the attack, instead once the water formation reached him he slashed at it vertically, the black katana his sensei had given him actually destroying the water technique with ease

The reason for this was the seemingly new form that the katana had taken. All around the blade of the sword it looked like a cloak of dark purple energy was surrounding it and taking the form of a bigger sword

He still didn't understand how it worked; the only thing he knew was that this sword actually reacted to the _**Yami no Maho (Dark Magic)**_ that both he and his sensei used. As far as he knew actually imbuing a weapon with _**Yami no Maho (Dark Magic) **_as if it was an element like wind or lightning should not be possible, and yet this sword took his magic like a fish with water

His sense had just told him that the sword had been one of the few things that he had been able to bring to this world. Naruto didn't know if that was really the whole story but he ended up just accepting it, not being able to come up with any other possibility besides that

After all it wasn't like there were many weapons in _this_ world that could actually strength itself with magic, specially one like _**Yami no Maho (Dark Magic)**_

As far as he knew there wasn't anything else especial about this sword, beside it's incredible durability and cutting power, although he had asked his sensei about the words scrambled in the blade, but his sensei had just called it decoration, which of course sounded fishy for the dragon slayer

Menma for his part just looked at Naruto's blade with both confusion and apprehension, but a sudden steel on his eyes made it go away. Then the blonde bit his thumb before going through a set of hand-seals and slamming his palm in the ground

"_**Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)**_!" then a large puff of smoke hid Menma from Naruto's eyes completely, prompting the blonde to tense his body in preparation. Once the smoke disappeared he almost had to make a double take at the newcomer in the fight

A big, armor-wearing and sword-using orange _toad_ was now standing between both blondes, with Menma openly grinning while Naruto just raised an eyebrow at what he knew was a summon. Considering who Menma was related to he guessed that him being able to summon toads was not that much of a surprise. No, what it was a real surprise was simply the toad's general appearance

He was wearing what looked like an armor that some sort of samurai would use, and even then he was actually surprised that the toad could actually move freely with that thing. The toad was also quite big, and Naruto guessed that it was probably as big as Zabuza. The other thing noteworthy of the toad were the two swords that it was holding, which Naruto recognized as a pair of o-wakizashi

"Let's do this, Gamajinta!" Menma exclaimed, getting an actual nod from the toad. Then after doing so weird sound that the blonde had never hear in his life the sword wielding toad dashed at him by jumping at an incredible speed for such a big toad

As soon as the toad named Gamajinta reached Naruto it tried to slash at him with both of its long wakizashis

Thanks to the enhanced reach that his magic gave to his katana Naruto was able to block the dual attack, something that he was forced to keep doing since Gamajinta didn't give him any type of rest. The toad attacked Naruto with a fury of slashes, either alternating between its swords or sometimes using both at the same time

It was obvious for Naruto that the toad was actually better than him when it came to _**Kenjutsu (Sword Techniques)**_. He was easily forced to stay in the defensive against the armor-wearing toad, but the biggest problem in Naruto's head was that the toad was also doing its best to block Menma out of his sight

In other situation Naruto might have tried to stop Menma for summoning anything, but the blonde needed for his opponent to get desperate. For Naruto's plan to work he needed to strike Menma's ego as much as he could, even if it made the fight more difficult for him right now

The fight between mage and toad was putting to a halt once that suddenly Gamajinta actually jumped quite high. Naruto was just confused for a moment before a sudden blast of wind hit him right on his chest, sending him flying backwards to the ground

Naruto was quick to stand up, even though his chest felt like the toad he was just fighting had stepped over him and crushed him. Naruto actually did his best to act as if the technique hadn't affected him at all, even to the point of actually dusting his shirt when he stood up. It wasn't like he hasn't felt stronger pains before. He had a really good pain tolerance so with good enough focus he could actually act as if the attack hadn't reached him at all

"Is that all you come up with?" Naruto questioned Menma after standing up, returning the fierce glare he was giving him with a cold look. The stadium was in complete silence, which allowed for Naruto's words to reach Menma despite the distance between them

The dragon slayer also noticed how Gamajinta had returned to Menma's side, looking more than ready to move and defend his summoner

Naruto didn't let Menma answer and instead went running directly at him with his sword on his hand. Just like he expected the human-sized toad moved between the two of them with it's sword in a X formation

The blonde didn't stop and just kept running, but once that he got close enough he stopped suddenly before unleashing his attack

"_**Rairyu no Hōkō (Lighting Dragon's Roar)**_!" the toad definitely was not expecting a sudden beam of blue lighting to escape Naruto's mouth, and with the distance between them the only thing he could was to stay there and try to block the attack. Of course the toad might had been able to jump out of the way, but if it did that then the lighting attack would hit Menma directly, something that the toad would just never allow

Of course the spell reached the toad, an explosion of electricity being the result of the impact between the spell and the toad. Menma was also send back a little bit as a result of the explosion, stopping whatever technique he might had tried to do

And the toad? He was no longer with them. He wasn't dead or anything, he just returned to his territory once the spell knocked him out

As soon as Menma recovered his bearings Naruto appeared just in front of him, his katana, which had gone back to normal, quickly descending down on the Jinchuriki

Menma wasn't able to do anything as the sword slashed him at his chest, from his right shoulder across his chest and down bellow, completely opposite of the cut that Omoi had done earlier at Menma

Menma actually felt to his knees, this cut being a lot deeper than the one Omoi had done to him, prompting more blood to just gush out of his new wound. He of course expected for Naruto to attack him once again, so he was surprised when instead of that he just moved backwards just before talking

"Is this really everything you can do, Menma?" Naruto's voice actually sounded disappointed, almost as if he was lecturing a child for his behavior "Weren't you going to teach my place?"

"Shut up you scum!" Menma snarled at his brother while doing his best to stand up, the whole stadium listening intently to the conversation

"Scum? Me?" said Naruto in fake confusion before sheathing his katana "I'm sorry Menma but I'm not the one who is on his knees because of the pain"

"Shut up!" Menma yelled, finally getting to his feet "a piece of shit like you should just let himself get killed so that everyone's life could actually get better!"

"Oh?" Naruto just regarded Menma with a raised eyebrow, his plan to rile up his opponent working perfectly "And who exactly is going to kill me? You?"

"You got that right!" Menma was quick to yell his answer, hate practically dripping from his voice. His words though only got a low chuckle from Naruto. Slowly said chuckle actually became a full blown laughter, something that was definitely uncharacteristic from the blonde mage

"Please" Naruto stopped laughing and once again gave Menma a cold look that would have any other person squirming under it, but Menma was too busy glaring at Naruto for that "You summon failed you, your water techniques can't even touch me, your wind techniques can barely tickle me, your clones are only dead weight and your lighting techniques…" Naruto stopped mid sentence, his voice then gaining a mocking tone

"Of course you haven't use those, after all even you know that when it comes to _**Raiton (Lightning Release)**_ I'm simply superior, don't you?"

If looks could kill Naruto knew that he would have died many times in just a second just based on how strong Menma was glaring at him. He was even trembling of rage, something that Naruto easily noticed

"What, you think different?" said Naruto just before pointing at himself with his thumb "Then why don't you show me just exactly how utterly pathetic your techniques are compared to mine? Or are too scared, fox-boy?"

Those that knew Naruto were completely surprised by what the blonde was saying; after all it wasn't something he would normally do. Then again the whole conversation had made plenty of people to start to whisper between themselves, talking about the obvious bad blood that there was between the two brothers

Those that didn't know the two siblings that much, especially those from other village, were definitely shocked by the obvious hate that existed between them. Of course plenty of them looked at those that might have answers, like Kushina, Minato and the boy's senseis: Anko and Kakashi, but they were only ignored since said people were too busy looking at the situation in shock

Naruto could have swore that Menma's eyes flashed red just before that with a snarl he started going through hand seals quickly, something that Naruto didn't even try to stop

"_**Raiton: Hachichū Shibari (Lightning Release: Eight Pillar Bind)**_!" Menma practically screamed his technique, his eyes going from blue to crimson red. He was going to show this traitorous bastard the place to which he belonged

Hell

All around Naruto multiple rock pillars appeared, surrounding him completely. The pillars had a little bit of separation between them, and they weren't that big anyway, which allowed for everyone to still see Naruto between the formations of rocks

'Honestly Menma, you're simply too predictable' the blonde thought while eyeing the pillars with little interest. It looked like his plan had worked and Menma, being him, _had_ to show him just how _superior_ he was

The pillars were quickly covered in electricity, and both Naruto and Menma knew that the technique was about to be unleashed. While plenty of people expected for Naruto to try to do _something_ the only thing he did was to stand there, waiting for the inevitable attack

This of course just came a second after

At the same time every pillar shot its electricity directly at Naruto, eliciting gasp from everyone looking at the fight. It was more than obvious that the attack packed a lot of power, but it was only those with experience, namely every man and woman with the rank of Jonin or above that recognized that the power the technique had could only be used for one thing

To kill

Menma for his part just grinned, thinking that he had finally released the world from the abomination that Naruto was. The people watching might not know it, but he had saved them once again from a monster!

That feeling was short-lived though, since the next things everyone saw was a perfectly looking Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, who was of course standing in the middle of the field of rocks, his mouth wide open, the lighting that would have hit his body being absorbed, no, _eaten_ by the blonde Shinobi

No one could understand what was happening. Even the Kages and their bodyguards were left speechless with their mouth hanging open and their eyes wide in shock

The group that was formed by the new Konoha Genins and their senseis alongside Might Guy's team and the group made of the Clan's heads were pretty much in the same situation, with even Anko and Kakashi looking shocked beyond belief. They had seen plenty of things on their lives as Shinobi and Kunoichi, but this was the first time that they had seen someone actually _eating_ lightning

Although both Kakashi and Anko couldn't help but to notice the similarity between what Naruto was just doing and what the S-Rank criminal Zancrow had done during their brief meeting a few months ago

How was that even possible? How could someone do that? Was that a technique? And how did a Genin like Naruto learned something like that? Question like that were the ones that plagued everyone's mind, with of course the exception of a select few

Zeref just nodded at the display of _**Metsuryū Mahō (Dragon Slayer Magic)**_. He had an idea of what his apprentice was trying to do by acting that way towards Menma, and now this just proved his suspicions to be correct

He had to admit that he was a bit surprised though. Sure he had told his apprentice that he should not hold back in this tournament but even then Naruto looked a little bit reluctance to actually show too much of his magic and yet here he was, doing one of the few things he could do that couldn't just be explained by using the "it's a jutsu" excuse

Naruto for his part had never felt better in his life! He could count the amount of time he had ate lighting, and even then none of those moments could compare to this. He could feel the energy going through his body, more energy that he had never tasted before. He might hate Menma, but even he had to admit he could at least make decent enough lightning

The blonde could feel it. The previous pain he had on his chest disappearing, the burning sensation on the left side of his body becoming almost unnoticeable, his magic container filling up completely, but the biggest change was when his sealed tenketsu point opened abruptly, letting his chakra to once again freely roam through his body

After a little while the lightning stopped coming out of the pillars, making Naruto actually miss the sensation of power entering his body. He wondered if Menma had stopped the technique after noticing that if was futile or if the technique just had a time limit

The pillars descended once again under earth, allowing Naruto to see the shocked expression of his opponent, to which Naruto just answered with a cold uninterested glance. Now that Menma had done what he wanted there was no need for him to keep playing games with him. He was going to end the fight already, and he was more than sure that there was nothing Menma could now do against him

"Thanks for the meal Menma" said Naruto, lightning covering his arms and legs completely, with sparks of blue electricity flying randomly out of his body "I needed a recharge"

Then Naruto disappeared from where he was, and the next thing Menma felt was Naruto's lightning covered elbow hitting him square on his chest

A lightning punch directly to Menma's jaw followed quickly, then continued by another punch straight to Menma's stomach, only that this one was certainly stronger

"_**Rairyū no Hōken (Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist)**_!" Menma was sent flying by what looked like a fist-like lightning that emerged from Naruto's punch. It didn't help the Jinchuriki that after a few seconds the lightning fist that was pushing him by his stomach actually exploded in a massive sparking explosion, sending the boy to the ground face-first, his whole body filled with multiple burns with some sparks here and there going off from him

"Pathetic" Naruto commented, not knowing what to think of his obviously defeated opponent. For one part he knew that he could defeat him easily enough, Jinchuriki or not, but on the other hand he definitely expected more from someone that was trained by S-Rank Shinobis since he could walk

It looked like Menma wasn't completely done though, since ever so slowly the blue-eyed Jinchuriki managed to stand up while obviously being in pain. Naruto hadn't tried to attack him while he was down, not finding any reason to defeat an opponent that couldn't even fight. Maybe if it was a mission he would have acted different, but this was a tournament to see who the best was

Menma was now standing up, a hand on his stomach, grunting and huffing in pain. Even the way he was standing easily told him that Menma was in no condition to continue fighting

"You should just give up already" the blonde commented, his words just getting a fiery scowl from Menma

"As if I would surrender against someone like _you_" Menma managed to wheeze out between breaths, entering once again on his fighting stance, simply getting a sigh from Naruto

"Very well" Once again Naruto disappeared from Menma's sight, his speed being too much for the Jinchuriki's eyes to follow

So of course he wasn't able to do anything against the uppercut that Naruto landed on his jaw, which actually lift him several feet of the ground

Naruto was certainly quick, and with his other hand he shot a chain straight at Menma's foot, which quickly tied itself around said limb

Then with a strong pull Menma's body slammed against the ground backwards. The blonde's mouth was left wide open alongside his eyes. It looked like Menma wanted to scream in pain, but not a sound escaped his mouth

Once again Naruto just gave Menma a cold glance, hiding his inner feelings. A big part of him was simply happy that he had apparently not only defeated his opponent and moved to the Finals, but that also he had managed to recover most of his strength

There was another part of him though, a small one that was just happy by the fact that he had soundly beat Menma. He knew this part of him of course, it was the same one that wanted to take revenge on his former family and hurt them in any way possible, but just like every since he faced his shadow he managed to control that part of him, the little voice on his head that was telling him to end the job and _kill_ Menma

Naruto just shook his head, trying to get rid of those thoughts. He then simply started to walk away, not really feeling like waiting for Itachi to announce his victory

"I'm not… done yet… you bastard!" Naruto stopped walking as soon as he heard Menma's ragged voice. He turned around, both surprised and annoyed by the fact that Menma had actually managed to stand up again

It wasn't only the fact that Menma was not done yet what upset him, it was also the thing Menma was holding on his right. An all too familiar spinning chakra ball was on his hand, getting a simple raised eyebrow from Naruto, not believing that Menma actually thought that technique would actually save him

Apparently he did though, since the next thing Menma did was dash at him with as much speed he could muster in his current state, which of course wasn't a lot, at least not in Naruto's eyes. The mage didn't move, he simply observed Menma with a bored look, not the least preoccupied about his opponent desperate gamble

Just when Menma reached him he tried to hit him with the _**Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)**_ that he had on his right hand. Naruto of course reacted accordingly, and just when the attack was about to hit his chest he twisted his body to the right, the technique missing his chest for just a couple of inches

Naruto then quickly grabbed Menma's wrist and slammed his hand, alongside the _**Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)**_ on the ground, creating a crater where the technique impacted the ground

Both blondes were now looking directly at each other eyes, emotionless dark blue meet enraged sky blue ones. Naruto still had a tight grip on Menma's wrist, his other hand closed into a fist

"Who's the failure now?" those were the last words Menma heard before another punch planted itself into his stomach, making his body to lurch, silent scream escaping Menma's mouth

Naruto released Menma's wrist, making him fall face down, obviously unconscious. Naruto for his part just scoffed at his unconscious opponent before walking off, knowing that this time he had won

The whole stadium was in silence, no one knew what to think of what they had seen. From Naruto's apparent ability to _eat_ an element to just how ruthless and one-sided the last part of the fight had been, it all left the stadium speechless, especially since the one that had lost was Menma, against _Naruto_ of all people

The battle however was far from over

In fact it was now just starting

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Alcor_

"**I guess I shouldn't be surprised about this, it's not like you ever stood a chance in the first place, Menma-kun" **murmured Alcor, a hand resting over his mouth **"At least not without help of course"**

Then Alcor smiled. A cold smile that Zeref would have recognized immediately. The white-haired servant simply raised his other hand before snapping his fingers, knowing that his action would bring the demise of the Jinchuriki

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Back at the fight_

"Winner: Uzu-"Itachi was about to announce the winner of the fight. He had already checked on Menma and was sure that he was unconscious

However just before he could do that Menma's unmoving body practically exploded in a crimson red-like chakra, sending the Uchiha flying just out of the sheer power of the sudden crimson energy. He was at least able to land safely, although his clothes looked like someone had burned them with a _**Katon (Fire Release)**_ technique

Naruto, who was halfway to reach the exit of the stadium that connected with the balcony in which he had watched the rest of the fights, suddenly turned around, his eyes looking at the curtain of dust and crimson energy that had just appeared where Menma was supposed to be

The whole stadium stopped breathing for a moment, they were practically on the edge of their seat, with only a few already recognizing what the crimson energy was

Then the roar came

A primal sound escaped the curtain of dust, a roar that only an animal could have done. The roar had the effect of actually dissipating the dust, allowing for everyone to see the responsible of it

Menma was standing on fours, a hateful expression on his face, but that wasn't what had Naruto's focus. No, it was the cloak-like bubbling red chakra that was covering Menma's body completely.

The cloak outlined Menma's body, only that in a more animalistic kind of way. His hand and feet were covered by what looked like claws while his head had two ears-like things. Menma's eyes were also shining red and narrowed, but there were two things that got most of Naruto's and everyone's attentions

The first thing was what was behind Menma. Just there, coming out of the part of the cloak that was on his lower back were three tails made of the bubbling red chakra. The tails were moving lazily behind Menma, almost as if they were real tails attached to the blonde's body

The other thing was the feeling of bloodlust that not only Naruto but everyone in the arena got, courtesy of the transformed Menma. Naruto for his part had never felt something like this, even when he had faced his own shadow he hadn't experimented such a strong feeling. It almost made him give a step back in shock, and although he managed to not move he knew that the cold expression he normally sported had broken because of it

The only other thing that Naruto felt that was stronger than this was a few days ago, and even then that had _not_ been bloodlust. No, what was feeling right now was someone, or something, wanting to kill and destroy as much as he could because of its hate and rage, just like his shadow only that stronger

What he had felt a few days ago was a being that wanted to destroy everything simply because he _could_ do it, nothing more, and nothing else

Of course he wasn't the only feeling this. The whole stadium felt it, those that had witnessed the attack of the Kyubi fifteen years ago trembling in fear as the memories of that day came bac to their minds

Zeref for his part just narrowed his eyes at the sight, not the least affected by the bloodlust that was saturating the arena. He had faced worst before, and this wasn't even the first time he had seen a Jinchuriki using their Bijuu's power

The person sitting beside him had the complete opposite reaction though.

Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsumi was practically trembling in fear at the sight, her eyes also wide in shock and terror. Her mother was even hugging her and telling her that everything would be fine, but that didn't help the young girl at all, the feeling that she was getting from her brother being too much for her

The bloodlust had hit the young red-head harder than the rest, her abilities to sense the chakra of her family chakra now working against her, so she just sat there, shrinking in fear and almost at the verge of tears, hoping that her Naruto-nii could bring Menma-nii back to normal

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Alcor_

The red-eyed man simply smiled, his eyes focused on no one but Naruto while his body leaned in anticipation

"**That should be enough. Any more 'tails' might be too much for everyone involved, and the last thing I want is someone ruining my show"** Alcor said while smiling, his eyes still looking at no one but the human that had his Master's attention

"**You have your stage, Naruto-kun, and now I gave you a worthy opponent"** The white-haired man whispered, a hand going through his hair while the other one rested on his lap **"Now show me what made a human like you worthy of my Lord's interest"**

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Back with Naruto_

Another roar was the only warning Naruto received before Menma moved, and in hindsight he should have done something since the next thing that happened was that, in a blink of an eye, Menma was already upon him, slashing at his chest with his right hand, or to be more precise the right claw-like red chakra that was covering his hand

Naruto was just able to grunt in pain, the attack easily tearing through his clothes and flesh, leaving a fresh wound on his chest. Menma's next movement was just as fast, an horizontal slash with his left claw, leaving another wound across the one Naruto had just gotten

Using his momentum granted by his second attack Menma turned, the three tails on his lower back moving directly at Naruto. The blonde saw this one, but the only thing he managed to do was to use both arms in order to block the tails

He did block the attack, but the force behind him was too strong. It easily sent the mage flying, the only reason his arms didn't break being the fact that he was able to reinforce them with magic and chakra

Naruto rolled on the ground, getting on a kneeled position after finally stopping. He didn't have time to rest since just a second later from Menma's right hand a gigantic red claw made of chakra extended itself and went down on Naruto, obviously trying to crush him to the ground

The dragon slayer managed to avoid being smashed by rolling to the side, the claw smashing the spot in which he had been just a second before. He then stood up quickly, just in time to see Menma throwing his hand up front, another crimson red claw extending itself from it and going directly at his opponent

Naruto slammed his fist to the ground, making a completely cylindrical black pillar to come out of the ground just below him, raising the blonde from the ground out of the reach of Menma's attack

The attack still kept his course though, and once it reached the pillar it grabbed it. Menma then pulled his hand, which of course made the red claw tear the pillar of the ground

"_**Rairyu no Hōkō (Lighting Dragon's Roar)**_!" But Naruto managed to jump on the last second, landing on the side of the pillar, which was now bended because of Menma's last stunt and attached himself to that side with chakra before shooting his own technique

The lightning attack hit on his mark, but unlike before Menma was barely pushed backwards and didn't look that affected by the attack

Naruto for his part just jumped out of the pillar, which broke into glass just a second later, and quickly took out his katana and pushed his _**Yami no Maho (Dark Magic)**_ into the blade, covering it with the same blade-like cloak that made it look like a small buster-blade

He did so barely in time, since just before that Menma dashed at him, more than ready to rip him with his claws

Naruto once again was pushed to the defensive. He used his enhanced sword to block each one of Menma's claw attacks, but it wasn't easy at all. They were severely faster than what Naruto had seen Menma do before, and the power behind each one almost made him lose the grip he had on his sword

It didn't help that Menma was practically fighting like a wild beast. While before Naruto might have been able to predict Menma's movements he could no longer do it. Menma was fighting with nothing but instincts and desire

The desire to kill him

This exchange ended once that Naruto made a mistake. After another series of claws attack by Menma, one of his tails suddenly moved forwards like a spear, it's objective being Naruto's head.

The blonde managed to block the attack by raising his sword, but the other two tails moved forwards instantly, wrapping themselves on Naruto's wrist, making him grunt in pain because of the burning sensation that the tails caused

Then the next thing that Naruto knew was that Menma's left hand/claw grabbed the blade of the sword just before he landed a punch with his other hand right at Naruto's stomach

The punch of course hurt, but what made the attack truly destructive was the fact that as soon as Menma's fist met Naruto's stomach a human-sized red fist made of the crimson chakra that was covering Menma shot out, sending Naruto flying to the other side of the field, his sword slipping from his hand

The fist smashed Naruto's body against the wall on the other side, making a really big dent of the size of the fist. The construct of chakra shot back to where Menma was, making Naruto to fall to his knees, his whole body in extreme pain and blood escaping his mouth and the fresh wounds on his chest

Menma for his part simply threw Naruto's sword behind him, the blade landing on the opposite side of the field from where Naruto was standing

Naruto managed to stand up, although with obvious difficult. Not only Menma's last attack had severely damaged him, but the close exposure to the Kyubi's chakra, which is what Naruto guessed that cloak was, had burned him too, leaving burn marks in different parts of his body

'If that's how you want to play then no more holding back' the blonde thought, deciding to use something he thought he would save for the finals

Suddenly his whole body was covered by a blue aura, sparks appearing randomly on his body. The aura then gained a dark tint to it, with some of the sparks appearing now being red in color

"_**Raitoningu Doraibu (Lightning Drive)**_" the blonde murmured, his whole being filling up with energy, both his magic and body becoming stronger by the influx of power

Definitely one of the strongest things Naruto had learned the past month, the _**Raitoningu Doraibu (Lightning Drive)**_ being a state that he, as a lightning dragon slayer, could access. It was, to put it simply, a power boost that improved both his physical strength and his magic

Sadly it wasn't a form he could use indefinitely. While the technique itself did made his dragon slayer magic stronger, it also depleted his magic container the more time he kept it on. There was also the fact that keeping it on or using it too many times without rest could easily strain the body, something that his sensei had warned him about

Not that he had a lot of options right now anyway

"_**Rairyū no Agito (Lightning Dragon's Jaw)**_" Menma was certainly not prepared for Naruto's new found speed, which is why he was not able to react once that Naruto appeared besides him in the blink of an eye, both his hands locked together into a tight fist covered in lightning that he smashed against Menma's back and, since he was still standing on all fours, also smashed him to the ground, a small crater appearing below them

Menma roared in pain, but the cloak that covered him once again proved to have a life of his own. One of its tails shot towards Naruto's leg and wrapped itself around it. Naruto hadn't see it coming since he still didn't know of the cloak's abilities and he thought that it answered to Menma's commands

The tail lifted Naruto of the ground and threw him out, allowing Menma to recover his bearings. Naruto for his part managed to land safely just before he once again shot himself at Menma, the Jinchuriki following his lead and doing the same

Flashes of blue and red covered the field, with shockwaves appearing every time Naruto and Menma clashed. Crimson claws met lightning ones, electrified punches meting their chakra-covered counterparts, tails trying to destroy what they touched and thunder shocking whatever it reached

Just to the side there was Uchiha Itachi, observing the fight with his Sharingan, easily following both fighters despite their speed, something that the Uchiha knew not everyone in the stadium would be able to do, like civilians and probably the Genins and some Chunins

The Uchiha's body was tensed, more than ready to act if he needed to intervene in the fight. Of course there was nothing he could do right now, after all a Jinchuriki using their Bijuu's chakra was certainly not against the rules. The only way Itachi could intervene was if Menma became a danger to the people in the arena, something that he wasn't considering how focused he was on Naruto

A new presence just besides Itachi made the Uchiha to tear his eyes away from the fight to his side in order to watch who had decided to enter the arena. He easily recognized the form of Jiraiya, the toad summoner's focus being also on the fight and nothing else

"Just in case things get out of hands" The Sannin answered Itachi's unasked question, getting a simple nod from the Uchiha, who then went back to watch the fight, both of them hoping that they weren't forced to intervene

Back to the fight, both Naruto and Menma had stopped clashing against each other, with Naruto being the one that had come losing their little confrontation. He was breathing hard, multiple new wounds, from claw marks to bruises and burn marks, filling his body

He was also getting tired, having to keep up with Menma new found strength besides using _**Raitoningu Doraibu (Lightning Drive) **_making a big impact on his body. His technique should not even be used like this in the first place!

_**Raitoningu Doraibu (Lightning Drive)**_ was supposed to be used to gain the swift advantage in a fight, using the added power that the technique gave you to easily overpower your opponent and end the fight as quick as one could. The fact that he had to use it to actually keep up with Menma just made the situation worse; after all he would not be able to keep it forever and once his power up ended he would be as good as a pray for Menma, whose three tailed cloak seemed to have no weakness in Naruto's eyes

The blonde knew that, even though both he and Menma were equally matched right now, that his opponent still held the advantage of having better stamina than him. Not only that but that damn cloak of his seemed to absorb a lot of the damage of his attacks, making small skirmish like the one they just had practically useless for him

Quickly deciding to bring his heavy hitters to the fight Naruto started to charge his right arm with his lightning magic, while with his other hand he shot multiple chains at Menma, who for some reason had just stood there, growling at Naruto

The chains reached Menma, but with one sweep of his left claw they were decimated in an instant. It was in that moment that Naruto managed to catch a glimpse of why Menma hadn't moved, and it made his eye go wide in surprise

A big ball of chakra was residing in Menma's right hand/claw. It was obviously a _**Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)**_, only that this one was completely different from the rest that he had seen from Menma. For starters it was also covered in some sort of red aura, making it almost look purple in color. It was also bigger; being at least of the same size that Menma's clawed hand

Not wanting to experience what it felt to get hit by that Naruto threw more chains at Menma to use as a distraction, his other hand almost completely covered in lightning and taking the form of the head of a dragon

Menma once again easily destroyed the chains, his _**Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)**_ now being of the size of someone's head. Apparently deciding that it was enough Menma dashed at Naruto, but said mage was already on his move

"_**Metsuryū Ōgi: Kaminari Kokuō: Raijin no Kyōdaina Hōkō (Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Lightning King: Raijin's Mighty Roar)**_!" from his right hand, which was covered in lightning that had taken the form of the head of a dragon, a roar followed by a powerful beam of lightning came out, going directly at none other than Menma

Naruto thought that the attack would hit, after all not only the distance was small but Menma was even running towards it, so he was definitely shocked when the Jinchuriki actually managed to _dodge_ it by using his other hand to create another gigantic red chakra claw that pushed him of the ground and into the sky, out of the range of the blast, which ended up hitting the wall on the opposite side of the field, destroying it and making big whole on it

Because of his momentum Menma was shot directly at Naruto, his improved _**Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)**_ aimed to destroy Naruto's chest. Of course considering that Menma was failing with his hand outstretched Naruto managed to easily predict the trajectory of the attack, and just on the last second he moved to the side, avoiding the attack, which landed on the ground

Naruto didn't let the curtain of dust to stop him and quickly shot his right arm, which was still covered in lightning, at Menma. The maws of the dragon head quickly close around Menma's right arm

Menma cried in pain, although it sounded more like a hard roar, as soon as the mouth closed on his arm, lightning coursing through his body. However it could not be said that he was defeated, since the next thing he did was to ignore his trapped limb and quickly shot his other hand at Naruto, the points of the red claw that covered his hand stabbing Naruto on the chest

The mage grunted in pain while Menma did his best to stab Naruto deeper. The blonde didn't let go of his own attack though, and even put more pressure on the crushing 'bite' that his right hand was producing

He was rewarded by another roar that almost sounded like a whimper and the sound of bones breaking

Menma stopped trying to pierce Naruto's body completely with his claw, and instead outright punched him in the gut with more force that Naruto believed for Menma to use right now

The dragon slayer, not being able to keep his technique any longer, was sent flying by the punch. He ended up failing on his back, and he _knew_ that at least one of his ribs broke because of that attack alone

Naruto managed to return to a kneeling position, one of his hands holding his body while the other one rested on his stomach. From his position he could see how Menma almost curled into a ball, protecting his obviously broken arm while his tails moved wildly, almost as if threatening anyone that dared to come closer to the Jinchuriki

Naruto had no intention of getting closer, but he did want to end the fight. He took advantage of Menma's distracted form and quickly filled his body with electricity, planning to use his strongest technique

Before he had some issues with using the technique, mostly because of both the sheer quantity of magic that it used and how it could easily kill anyone that it touched, but right now the blonde didn't care. Menma had tried to kill him after all, so why shouldn't he do the same?

Eye for an eye as they said

The blonde didn't notice it, but on that moment his eyes went from blue to a sickly yellow color, the aura of his _**Raitoningu Doraibu (Lightning Drive) **_becoming a darker shade of blue

The lightning surrounding his body quickly covered him completely to the point that you could almost not see Naruto inside the ball of lightning that was around him

Then the electricity started to take form. Four paws appeared, each one with claws of their own, connected to a lean body that was definitely not human. A tail appeared behind it, and what looked like a feline face appeared, completed with a mouth and even yellow eyes that stood out on the blue lightning. The real form that the lightning surrounding Naruto became obvious after a few more seconds when a roar actually escaped its mouth

It was a tiger

"_**Metsuryū Ōgi: Rairyō: Nishi no Byakko (Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Lightning Spirit: Byakko of the West)**_!" The lightning tiger shot out from where it was, leaving Naruto alone surrounded by burned land, its objective obviously being Menma

The attack moved too fast, leaving Menma unable to dodge in his current condition. The tails of his cloak actually tried to attack the lightning construct, but they manage to do absolutely nothing

Then two roars resounded on the arena, one coming from the tiger and another one from Menma, the first one being one of might and the second one of nothing but pain

The tiger was really big, easily being able to tower over a an adult, so when it reached Menma it was not surprise that it's maw completely traped the blonde's chest, the rest of the tiger's body quickly covering the rest of Menma's body, while said Jinchuriki could do nothing but to yell in pain

Then the tiger exploded, a dome of blue lightning capturing everything on the range of the explosion

Once the dome of lightning disappeared everyone got a look at the effect of the attack. Menma was now facedown, his clothes destroyed and multiples burn marks on what was visible of his body, his cloak of chakra nowhere to be seen. The ground around him was either looking like something crashed against or like someone had burned it with fire. Menma's right arm was also angled in a weird way, obviously broken, and if Naruto had looked at his chest he would have seen two big bloody burned marks on it just where the tiger had bite him

Naruto for his part managed to stand up, his breathing even harder than before, the aura that had covered him now completely gone, his whole body aching in pain and trembling in exhaustation, but on his head it was worth it. He defeated Menma, something that during his childhood he thought would be impossible, and yet here he was, standing while Menma lied unconscious

Or so he thought

A grunt escaped Menma's lips, making Naruto's eyes to go wide in shock. Menma's whole body stirred slowly, proving that the blonde was very much awake

Naruto's eyes hardened at the sight. He would not give Menma any more chances to do anything though, and while his persistence might be something to admire, right now it just pissed Naruto off

The blonde looked to his right; a few feet from where he was standing was his sword, still planted to the ground. Naruto shot another chain from his right hand, which tied itself around the sword's handle, and then used it to quickly retrieve the sword, his body now moving towards Menma, his eyes still in sickly golden color that showed nothing but hate

The blonde walked slowly towards Menma, who was now trying to push up his body by using his remaining good arm. In Naruto's head the decision was already set; he was going to kill Menma. In his head it was what the Jinchuriki deserved, and he was going to deliver the punishment that Menma righteously deserved

His eyes shined gold once more, a frown appearing on his lips

"_That's right!"_ a sudden voice resounded on the blonde's head, a voice that he felt familiar but just couldn't put a face to it. The voice didn't make him stop though, in fact it actually made him walk a little bit faster _"Even after everything the bastard put us through he still had the balls to try and kill us?! No! End him, Naruto! Show everyone what happens when they mess with you, when they mess with us!"_

The blonde found himself nodding to the voice's words, the grip on his sword tightening. He would kill one of the bastards that made his life miserable. He was almost there, just a few more steps and then he could take his reven-

"_**That would not be wise, little fishcake"**_ another voice startled Naruto, making him stop just a couple of steps away from Menma and taking him out of his thoughts. Just like with the other voice he also felt like he knew who this voice was, but his head simply wasn't able to put a face to it _**"Someone that holds my power should not be swayed so easily by the darkest emotions of his heart"**_

"_Don't listen to him, Naruto!" _the other voice resounded, obviously mad by the interruption _"He knows shit! This is what you deserve, this is what you want, and this is what _we_ need!"_

"_**You are better than this, little fishcake"**_ the graver voice said with a growl, obviously annoyed _**"Are you really willing to throw out everything Zeref taught you just like that? I thought you were better than that, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto"**_ he sounded a little bit disappointed, something that for some reason actually bothered Naruto

"_**Ask yourself this, little fishcake"**_ he spoke once again towards Naruto, who was now standing just besides Menma _**"Is it really worth it?**_

"_It is! Don't let this fucking lizard trick you, Naruto! Cut the bastard's head off! Just imagine the face everyone will make! Wouldn't it be a glorious sight?!"_

Naruto shook his head, both voices now going mute on his mind. He didn't know and no one notice it, but during that moment his eyes had been alternating between its normal's dark blue color and the sickly golden color that had appeared before

In the end Naruto just looked down at Menma, who was still trying to raise his body from the ground with his other hand. Naruto's hand was grabbing his sword so tightly that his knuckle had gone completely white. It would be so easy for him to just kill Menma, just a quick movement of his katana and he was done for

But the voices on his head had shocked him, his previous resolution had wavered, and he asked himself that same question. Was it worth it? Could he even face his sensei after doing the deed? What about Sasuki? Would she think of him as a monster for killing Menma in cold blood just for the sake of inflicting pain on everyone?

He made his decision on that moment

"I'm not a monster" murmured the blonde, the handle of his sword striking Menma right in his head, finally knocking him out for good, a sigh escaping Naruto's lips

"I win" he then looked directly at where Itachi was, completely ignoring the fact that Jiraiya was standing beside him, his voice resounding in the quite stadium perfectly

He ignored them, not caring to wait for anything. He walked off the arena slowly, his whole body at the border of just shutting down

He had won

He had defeated Menma and was now on the Final

That was everything that mattered to him

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Alcor_

The servants face was not on his normal serene expression or smile. No, he actually had a scowl on his face, both his hand tightened into fist

"**Why?" **Alcor wondered out loud while biting his lip in frustration to the point of actually drawing blood **"He should have killed him. I gave him the perfect moment for it and yet he didn't do it. He should have done it. He should have taken revenge, and yet he didn't… why?!"**

Alcor knew humans. He had watched them for so long that he had lost account of the time he had spent as a servant. He knew how humans were; they were a selfish and weak race whose only redeeming trait was that they were useful for the Gods. They just _loved_ to kill each other for the stupidest reasons, revenge being the favorite for humans all across the worlds

And yet here was this little human actually daring to contradict him? His plan for Naruto depended on him doing what he was supposed to do and kill Menma! And yet he dared to just _not do it_?!

If there was something that Alcor hated more than anything it was to lose control. He had his plan for Naruto and it was perfect. His Lord would have been extremely pleased with him, and yet now he was forced to change his plan

Alcor passed a hand through his mouth, cleaning it from the blood that had gotten out from his lip, his scowl quickly returning to his normal smile. It was ok, he could still fix this. He could work around this situation. It might take a little bit more time but it would work

Two images appeared on his head, both of those being of none other than Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsumi and Uchiha Sasuki, making the white-haired man's smile to become a little bit wider and a small chuckle to escape his lips

Yes, he could definitely make it work

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Back with Naruto_

The blonde mage was sitting alone on the balcony that used to host the rest of his fellow Genins, his body leaning against the wall, one of his knees raised in a triangular position while his other leg extended itself across. One of his hands was going through his face while the other one rested on his bended knee

He was tired. No, scratch that, he was more than exhausted. He honestly felt like he would pass out at any second. He had entered the fight expecting to come out with more energy than before and ended up so weak that just moving made his whole body to ache in pain and to beg his brain to stop any movements

It didn't help at all how Mito had fuzzed over him as soon as she got him at arm's length. The girl even looked at the verge of tears. She had begged for him to just surrender now and go get medical attention. For a split second Naruto had considered the idea, but he quickly shot it down. He had already got this far, he would definitely see it until the end

Mito had still tried to convince him, almost to the point of dragging him by herself to the nearest medic-nin. Naruto was still not comfortable about his former sister newfound interest in him, but considering how weak he was feeling he knew that he was in no position to start arguing about something like that

Mito only stopped pestering about his condition once her fight was announced, and even then she still looked like she didn't want to leave him alone. Gaara had already left by that point, so it was only the two of them

In the end Mito had just left after Naruto told her that if she didn't she would lose her fight for abandon, something that would be a shame since Naruto really wanted to fight her. Mito had left after that, although very reluctantly, but Naruto couldn't help but to utter some words just before she left

"We need to talk after this… about us" Naruto didn't know what had made him say that, he just felt that it was a good time as any. Mito had turned to look at him so fast that he could have swore he heard the whiplash of her movement. She had then graced him with a small smile before walking away, leaving Naruto alone

The blonde grunted in pain, his right hand going through the wounds on his chest. He then felt his ribs, finding two of them broken. He honestly didn't know what was making him feel worse, if the wounds or the magical exhaustation he was sure he was feeling. Using two _**Metsuryū Ōgi (Secret Dragon Slayer Art)**_ alongside _**Raitoningu Doraibu (Lightning Drive)**_ had really made an effect on his magic reserves

He already had a plan though. There was no way he would be able to fight in this condition. His next opponent was either Mito, who he guessed was around Menma's strength if not stronger, or Gaara from Suna, someone that Naruto also knew would not be an easy opponent

He didn't know if it would work. Of course he had tested it the past month but the results were definitely not pretty. It was still his last remaining choice, unless a lightning storm were to suddenly appear of course

The blonde raised his right hand, which was now filled with his own blood. Focusing his chakra he managed to make a complete ball of lightning. It looked powerful yes, but it was not a technique at all. The only thing he was doing was making so much of his chakra into _**Raiton (Lightning Release)**_ chakra that it was visible

It wasn't that hard to do, but besides looking interesting this 'technique' had no other real use

Well except for him of course

He knew that what he was about to do would not get him in perfect condition. Heck, he was sure than it would not even get half of his power back or heal many of his wounds, but something was something, and it the state he was right now he needed every help he could get

He brought the electricity to his mouth and eagerly ate it. He ate as much as he could, which honestly wasn't much, at least not compared to what he had ate during his fight against Menma

He stopped eating once he knew he had reached his limit. Anymore and he knew he could easily die. In fact if he had tried that with his own magic and not chakra he _would_ have died. That was something his sensei had explained to him, about how dragons and dragon slayers could not eat their own element if it was made by themselves, unless they were searching for a long and painful death

It wasn't like what he had just done didn't have consequences of his own. Dragons and dragon slayers could just not eat their own element if they made it themselves. Doing it with chakra instead of magic just avoided the death part of it, but it still had it consequences

This hit Naruto just a second later

The blonde fell to the wooden floor, his whole body twisting in pain, feeling as if someone was stabbing hundreds of needles all over it. His mouth was wide open, but no scream escaped his lips, even though he so wanted to yell in pain

He then started convulsing, his body moving wildly. The pain didn't lessen though, but Naruto was unable to do anything about it but wishing for it to end quickly

So when sweet unconsciousness finally greeted Naruto he was quick to accept it

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**A big chapter for one big fight. I know some of you might have wanted more interaction between Naruto and Menma, but I just felt it wouldn't work that well right now. Don't worry, they will have their moment soon, really soon, and it won't be just insults between them**

**This chapter might have raised more questions about what Alcor has done/is trying to do. Everything will be revealed soon too**

**People's reaction to the fight? That's for later. I hope this fight was of your liking since I know the last few could have definitely been better**

**Just one more chapter to end this arc! Of course thank you all for the support you have granted this fic, it makes me feel all fuzzy inside**

**Next Chapter: King**


	21. Finals: A Dragon Never Rest

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

**Chapter 19**

**Finals: A Dragon Never Rest**

Naruto woke up with a gasp and a head start, his eyes wide open and his body going from a lying position to a sitting one in the blink of an eye, which ended up making him grunt in pain, his body practically yelling at him to not make sudden moves like that.

It took a few seconds for Naruto to remember where he was, and why exactly he had been unconscious. It didn't help that he had the biggest headache he had ever felt on his life, or that his whole body was pretty much screaming for some sort of medical attention.

For a second there Naruto regretted eating his own lightning. His sensei had warned about the consequences, and yet he had still gone and done it.

He wondered if the dark mage would be mad at him. It would certainly be an interesting look, after all Naruto couldn't really remember if his sensei had ever been actually angry or even upset on his presence. In fact he was sure he could count with his hands just the number of times Zeref had showed any change on that poker face of his.

It was then than a sudden movement, alongside a new presence, took Naruto out of his thoughts. The blonde saw the movement from the corner of his eyes, but since he was facing the other side of it he had to turn around in order to see who the intruder was.

And the blonde couldn't help but to widen his eyes in shock at what he saw.

It was Gaara. There was no other possibility, after all who else had auburn and black circles around his eyes? But there were a lot of things that made Naruto doubt if this was really Gaara. For instance there was his expression. Naruto couldn't remember if the Suna Shinobi had ever made any type of facial expression, but now he could see that Gaara was certainly enraged, it was pretty obvious with the way he was glaring at him and how he was baring his teeth at him as if he was some sort of animal.

Of course that wasn't what stood out of Gaara the most though. No, it was two different things. The first one being the massive quantity of killing intent that the sand user was releasing. It honestly made Naruto remember the fight he just had with Menma, the difference being that the bloodlust Gaara was realizing was certainly weaker than what Menma had showed.

The other thing that definitely stood out was a _lot_ more obvious. It was the fact that Gaara's right side of his body was completely covered in _sand_. Not only that but it even looked like it had taken form, with his right hand turned into a claw, the right side of his face sporting a menacing yellow eye surrounded like sand that made him look like a weird animal, and last but not least a _tail_ was coming out just out of his lower back.

With all that it certainly made for a quite shocking gaze for the now awake dragon slayer. Gaara standing on the railing of the balcony while crouching, his left hand also holding the railing while his right, sand covered hand stood to the side.

This situation of course just brought a lot of questions to the blonde's head. What the hell happened to Gaara? Shouldn't he be fighting against Mito right now? Where was Mito anyway? What the hell happened while he was out?!

Sadly Naruto had no time to even think of any of these questions since Gaara, who apparently got tired of waiting for him to act, moved his right hand, thrusting it at the blonde.

Naruto was able to dodge the appendage by rolling to the side, the sand claw impacting to the wall. He was glad that Gaara's movement was not subtle at all, or even that fast, or else he was sure he would have received the blunt of the attack straight at his chest.

Quickly deciding that the situation needed a change of space, especially considering just how small the balcony was now feeling, he quickly used the _**Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_ in order to escape, just in time since the next thing Gaara tried was slamming his sand claw from the side.

Naruto appeared on the center of the arena in a less than spectacular way. To be more precise he ended up appearing on his back on the ground, the only reason his body hadn't fallen directly to the dirt being the fact that he had fallen over a rather big area filled with nothing but _sand._

The blonde quickly stood up, keeping the grunt of pain that wanted to escape from his lips on his mouth, and moved out of the sandbox, not knowing exactly what Gaara could do with that sand and not wanting to figure it out first hand. At least not in his current condition.

Naruto kept his eyes focused on Gaara, not trusting the guy to not attack him by surprise. The transformed Suna-nin had already gotten down from where he was, and it looked like he was more than ready to spring into action and attack him at any given time.

In fact Naruto guessed that the only reason Gaara hadn't moved was because of the person that was now standing just besides him.

"I'm glad to see you're ok, Naruto-kun" the blonde took his eyes away from Gaara for a moment in order to look at the calm visage that was one Uchiha Itachi, his best friend's older brother and the referee for this tournament.

"Care to explain the situation, Itachi-san? I can help but to feel lost" Naruto did his best to hide the irritation he was feeling right now. He had no idea of what was going on, and while one or two ideas had already popped on his head he hardly had enough evidence to know if they were true or not.

"I think the situation is rather obvious, Naruto-kun" Itachi answered, his voice calm as ever "Gaara here managed to defeat your sister, Mito-san" Naruto's eyes twitched when he called her his sister, something that Itachi ignored "However during the fight Mito-san managed to hurt Gaara enough so that he was forced to take this form. After that the next fight was announced but you never appeared, which made Gaara look for you".

That short explanation just added more questions on Naruto's head, but considering how he was probably running low on time since Gaara looked even madder than before Naruto decided to just ask his two biggest doubts now that he could.

"And you just let him go for me like that? Shouldn't you have stopped him or something?" Naruto said, his eyes now focusing on the black eyes of the Uchiha "What is that transformation anyway?" of course the blonde already had a suspicion, but he would at least like confirmation about it.

"Gaara here is the son of the Kazekage, Naruto-kun" explained the Uchiha "I can't act without thinking. By all means and terms you two were the next to fight. You didn't surrender, and you would have lost the fight by abandon if Gaara hadn't gone searching for you. Suna right now is the only ally that Konoha has, and I didn't want to risk that by making the wrong move" Itachi's eyes then went from Naruto to Gaara, although he didn't stop talking "I wouldn't have let him kill you though. You're my sister's friend after all, and she would have been crushed if something were to happen to you".

Naruto didn't know if to actually believe him. While he didn't consider the Uchiha a bad person he still didn't know him at all besides whatever Sasuki had told him, and that was a little biased to say at least. Right now he didn't have the time to complain though, so he didn't.

Itachi of course had not told everything to Naruto, both for lack of time and the necessity to keep some of the information as a secret. He hadn't lied about the fight between Gaara and Mito, he only omitted the part in which Gaara almost kills Mito after he went berserk, which was only avoided because he had saved the young girl and take her out of the field.

At least Gaara hadn't tried to keep attacking her or something. Instead he had actually moved directly to find his next opponent which of course was Naruto.

Itachi already knew that after this whole tournament was over he was going to get at least some sort of punishment from his Hokage for letting Gaara go looking for Naruto and then actually allow for this fight to happen considering how it started, but he had already received orders to not intervene in Naruto's fights unless it was completely necessary.

These orders were of course not given by the Hokage, but by someone else. Itachi knew that Naruto had some sort of connection with the man that had changed his life a few years back. The way the blonde fought made it more than obvious, even though the man Itachi had agreed to follow had never confirmed anything.

"And the transformation?" Naruto repeated his question, taking the Uchiha out of his thoughts and making him nod.

"I think it's obvious by now, but Gaara here is the Jinchuriki of the _**Ichibi no Shukaku (One-Tailed Shukaku)**_. What you're seeing right now is just him using his Bijuu's power, just like your brother" cue for a twitch form Naruto "did in your fight".

That explanation actually did make sense in Naruto's head. It definitely explained Gaara's ability; after all he knew that Suna had control over the Ichibi, and that the Ichibi itself had power over sand.

The blonde still couldn't help but to curse under his breath. In another situation he might have found it exiting to fight against a Jinchuriki, but after his fight against Menma he honestly just wanted to rest. It was only his stubbornness that kept him going through this tournament.

"You could always surrender the fight" Itachi said, getting a side glance from Naruto "If you did and Gaara here didn't regain control over his Bijuu I would be forced to stop him".

Both Konoha-Nins just looked at each other for a second. Naruto then shook his head, his gaze going once again to Gaara, whose whole body was twitching impatiently.

"I already got this far, I might as well see it through its end" the mage said, getting a nod from Itachi, who then was quick to make a distance between himself and both Naruto and Gaara.

"This is the final match between Gaara from Suna and Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto from Konoha" Itachi spoke, his calm voice resounding in the stadium perfectly, especially since no other sound could be heard from the crowd "Hajime!".

It didn't surprise Naruto that as soon as Itachi moved away from him Gaara made his move, in fact he was actually more surprised about the fact that Gaara hadn't moved sooner. Maybe he saw Itachi as too much of a threat even in this state? Or maybe the Suna Jinchuriki had more control over this form than Naruto thought capable.

The Suna-nin swung his right arm, which still pretty much looked like a sand claw, and from there multiple sand projectiles, which actually looked like shurikens, were launched at him.

Quickly drawing out his sword Naruto released his magic onto the blade, making it acquire its buster blade appearance. Then thanks to its new reach he used the sword to block the incoming sand shurikens.

Gaara actually growled before waving his right arm again, only that this time instead of sand shurikens coming out of it was the pile of sand that was to Naruto's left what acted.

From said pile of sand multiple pillars shot out, all of them moving directly towards Naruto. The blonde reacted quickly to this and jumped out of the way before the sand formations reached him.

Naruto was ready to move again as soon as he landed, but a sudden jolt of pain from the right side of his body stopped him cold and brought him to his knees. With a grunt Naruto's left hand went to where the pain was coming from, making him grunt even more as soon as his hand touched the area. Of course he knew that his body was hardly in good conditions, but right now he really didn't have time for this!

"_**Fūton: Renkūdan (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet)**_!" Gaara of course would not wait for Naruto to recover, and with a beastly yell he shot three human-sized bullets of air aimed at his opponent.

Knowing that dodging right now was not an option Naruto raised his left hand in front of him. Not even a second later a black wall appeared just between him, Gaara and the incoming projectiles.

However unlike the times in which he had done something similar in the past, Naruto's creation was not able to handle Gaara's technique. The first two bullets hit the wall, actually making it crack a lot. Naruto tried to keep it steady with his magic, but in his current state he wasn't able to do much, so it was no surprise that the last bullet managed to break Naruto's creation.

The last thing Naruto was able to do before the attack reached him was putting his sword in front of him in order to protect himself.

Of course the only thing that did was shield a little bit of the power of the attack, which had already been weakened a little bit when it hit the now destroyed black wall. Nonetheless Naruto was hit by it, his sword escaping from his hand while his body was launched backwards by the wind attack.

Naruto rolled on the ground before finally stopping face-up, an exhausted expression on his face, his whole body feeling nothing but pain. Not only that but he was still extremely tired to the point that thoughts of just staying there on the ground and giving up the fight actually crossed his mind.

But as soon as those thoughts appeared he wished them away. He had just told Itachi that he would see this through its end, and giving up the fight was not the way he wanted this to end. He did his best to regain his footing, even though his body was doing his best to protest.

The blonde mage finally managed to stand up, his eyes going once again to where his opponent was. He had thought it was weird how Gaara hadn't continued his assault on him, but once he saw what Gaara was doing he finally understood why he had stopped.

Gaara was standing over the pile of sand that covered the middle of the field, but what made the sight shocking was how the sand from the pile was climbing over Gaara and covering the rest of his body completely, making everyone there unable to actually see Gaara's body.

Gaara's left side was now mirroring the right side of his body perfectly, with sand that looked like a claw on his hand, and animalistic mask of sand now covering his whole face and even the tail that was now swinging behind him had become a little bigger.

Naruto had no doubt that this was Gaara's complete transformation when using his Bijuu's chakra. That of course just made Naruto's head work a mile per second. How strong was Gaara now then? Menma had been a beast with only three tails but this was the whole power of Gaara's Bijuu. Naruto of course didn't know exactly how the strength of a Bijuu worked, he only knew as much as everybody else and that was that the more tail they had the stronger they were.

He hoped that was the case here, because if Gaara had a power similar to Menma's then he was probably as good as dead right now.

With his transformation now finished Gaara was quick to attack once again. The transformed jinchuriki released a roar just before lunging at Naruto a lot faster than Naruto thought capable on that form, his right sand claw also moving with the obvious intentions on cutting the blonde into ribbons.

Naruto himself was barely able to jump back in time before Gaara's claw was swung at the place he had just been, the blonde already decided to see if he could go to the offensive.

"_**Rairyu no Hōkō (Lighting Dragon's Roar)**_!" the lightning beam was shot out from Naruto's mouth, but Gaara didn't even need to move to block the attack since a wall of sand was quickly formed between himself and the attack, stopping it completely.

Naruto just grunted in frustration. He would have to find a way to pass over Gaara natural sand defense and the sand that now covered his body, and he knew that is his current state he would not be able to do it. Quickly coming to a decision, and knowing that he would only have a few minutes, Naruto let his magic free once again today.

"_**Raitoningu Doraibu (Lightning Drive)**_" the blonde murmured, a dark blue aura once again covering his body with sparks coming out of it randomly. He didn't only felt the surge of power though, but also the pain that his body felt as a way of telling him that he was in no condition to use this state for too long.

He would just have to finish this quickly then.

More sand moved towards Naruto at Gaara's signal, some of it coming like pillars while other formations even looked like hands, but Naruto was already gone when the sand impacted where he had stood, moving at a speed that Gaara had really never faced before.

Gaara's surprise was short-lived since not even a second later he felt a lightning-covered fist impact against the side of his jaw, or to be more precise the sand that covered his jaw and that looked like the maw of an animal. Gaara's sand was not able to react fast enough to that either, since the next thing he felt was another hit to the opposite of his body.

This continued for a few short moments, with Gaara trying to do his best to stop Naruto while the blonde moved too fast for either Gaara or Gaara's sand to even reach him.

Sadly for Naruto his attacks proved to be kind of ineffective. Oh he was sure that he was hurting Gaara, if his growls of annoyance and pain were anything to come by, but he was also sure that the damage was kept to the minimum because of Gaara's sand that covered his body, and right now Naruto couldn't play like that. He needed to strike with a lot more force than this, or else he would run out of steam before Gaara.

At least he now knew that Gaara's defense was not perfect, and maybe if he were to be in better shape he would be able to keep striking him like this, but right now Naruto could not afford that.

The dragon slayer quickly came to a plan. He would first need to deal with the sand that covered Gaara's body, and after that he would just need one good strike directly at Gaara's body. It was a rather simple plan but there wasn't much he could do right now.

Of course Naruto knew that by using _**Fūinjutsu (Sealing Techniques)**_ a person could easily cut the connection between a jinchuriki and his Bijuu, but Naruto's abilities with those kinds of techniques was mostly book-wise so it wasn't like he could actually use them against Gaara. It wasn't that Naruto didn't try to learn the practical part _**Fūinjutsu (Sealing Techniques)**_, but to actually learn them without the help of a teacher was a rather hard thing to do, and considering who were the people in Konoha that actually knew about _**Fūinjutsu (Sealing Techniques)**_ it was no surprise that the blonde hadn't ask them for help.

Sadly for Naruto it was Gaara the one that acted first. Suddenly from the sand that covered Gaara's body multiple spikes, which were of course made of sand too, shot out all around him, some of them meeting their target and impaling Naruto.

The blonde wasn't able to react accordingly, so besides stopping his current attack and moving slightly to avoid one that was aimed to his head Naruto took heavy damage, with one of the spikes piercing his right shoulder, left thigh and even the left side of his lower body.

Blood came out of Naruto's mouth, his eyes going from his new wounds towards Gaara's now golden eyes, which were looking at him side-ways. The sand spikes returned to Gaara's body, making Naruto grunt in pain as soon as they got out, with more blood going out of Naruto's new wounds, but Gaara didn't let Naruto get any rest since the nest thing the blonde knew was that Gaara's massive sand tail moved against him, intending to slam against him like a hammer to a nail.

Naruto raised his left arm quickly, a round black shield suddenly appearing on it, in an attempt to block the attack. Gaara's tail still smashed against him, easily breaking Naruto's creation and sending the blonde flying and rolling on the ground with his left arm now broken, although at least he was alive.

Naruto was now lying on the ground face-first once again, only that now he was in an even worse condition than before. It didn't help that he could feel Gaara's sand start to envelope his body in order to, Naruto guessed, finish him already.

However the blonde was not going to just give up like that. Naruto focused all the magic he had left, which wasn't that much mind you, but it was barely enough to do what he was planning, in his right palm.

A purple orb of made of nothing but darkness magic was quickly formed on Naruto's right palm. The orb was still growing though, but not even that stopped Gaara's sand from capturing Naruto, said sand now reaching the upper side of his body.

Everyone else was on the edge of their seats, not wanting to miss whatever was going to happen. Some people were even wondering why the fight hadn't stopped already since it was obvious that Naruto was done.

Some people there, namely Kushina, Kakashi and a now awakened Mito, had to actually be restrained in order to stop them from jumping in and trying to intervene in the fight.

Meanwhile Minato was gripping the side of his seat so hard that the wood was actually cracking. He knew that there was nothing he could actually do right now but to hope. Hope that his son would either find a way to counter attack or that he would give up so that the fight could be stopped.

At this point he honestly didn't care; he just wanted his son to be safe.

The other Kages were simply watching the situation with an unreadable expression, both A and Onoki wondering if Naruto had anything else under his sleeve while Rasa just knew that Gaara would just claim another victim. The Kazekage was honestly thankful that Gaara hadn't used more of Shukaku's power, or else the situation might turn bad for everyone, especially his own village.

Down on the field Itachi just stood there with an expressionless mask, not knowing if to act or not yet. However he had caught sight of Naruto's right hand glowing, so he just decided to see what the blonde was trying to do.

Between all this it was no surprise that no one noticed how certain dark haired mage had moved off his seat, knowing that it was now his turn to help his apprentice.

Back to the fight Naruto was now covered from head to toe on a cocoon made of sand, not a part of his body being visible to anyone. Gaara actually released another inhuman scream before raising his right hand/claw, apparently aiming to end Naruto's life.

And he would have succeeded, if t wasn't for the purple beam that shot out of the cocoon in which Naruto was, of course aimed at Gaara himself.

The sand jinchuriki was obviously not expecting that. He had believed that his opponent was already a goner so of course he hadn't expected an attack. Sadly not even his sand moving in front of him in order to protect him was enough, and purple beam of darkness that was destroying everything on its path easily reached him, not only making him scream in agony as soon as the attack hit him, but also pushing him to the other side of the arena, in which he stopped with an explosion as soon as he reached the wall there.

Now the whole arena was silent, even Kushina and Mito, who had been yelling just a second earlier when they tried to make a way and reach Naruto were now silent. Naruto last movement had left a pretty interesting sight after all.

On one side of the field was Naruto himself, still lying face first on the ground, his right arm extended and his palm opened and facing at were Gaara used to be. The sand that had tried to cover had fallen of his body thanks to his attack, and because of Gaara's lack of focus.

On the complete opposite side of the place was a curtain of smoke that once it disappeared showed a barely conscious Gaara. The sand that once made him look like the Ichibi had also fallen of him, and actual cracks had appeared on what looked like his normal body, but something told Naruto that it wasn't.

Connecting both sides was a destroyed path, which was the earth that Naruto's beam had touched. The blonde had known that this technique was quite powerful, in fact the only reason that he hadn't used against Menma was because the blonde had become too fast once he had transformed and that when it came to power his _**Metsuryū Ōgi (Secret Dragon Slayer Art) **_boosted by his _**Raitoningu Doraibu (Lightning Drive)**_ were still his strongest form, although this kind of attacks were a close second.

However if Naruto thought that the fight was over he was certainly mistaken.

"I won't… let you… end my… existence" Gaara managed to said after standing up and moving towards Naruto, more cracks appearing on his face and what was visible of his body "You will die… I'll kill you… I won't let you kill me! You hear me, Uzumaki?! I WILL KILL YOU!" Gaara's words became progressively louder until they just turned into a hysterical scream.

Then the arena that covered the field moved towards Gaara, and once it reached it started spinning around him, practically making a sand tornado around Gaara, perfectly blocking him from view.

More sand joined Gaara, making the tornado a lot bigger than it already was. Naruto for his part could honestly do nothing but watch what Gaara was trying to do. He had honestly thought that his last attack would work, but apparently he had been wrong.

The attack would have worked, but what Naruto didn't know was that Gaara had two armors made of sand. The first one was the one that made him look like Shukaku while the second one practically acted like a second skin. If it wasn't for that second protection Gaara could have died from that attack.

But right now that was irrelevant, because the fight was now just starting.

With another inhuman scream a curtain of smoke and sand appeared just where Gaara used to be, almost as if something had exploded there. What made Naruto shocked though was the sheer size of this curtain.

It was gigantic. Not only was it easily towering over him but it also even taller than the stadium itself. A feeling of despair settled itself in the blonde's heart. He didn't have to see what hided the curtain of smoke, he already knew just how bad it was.

Then a massive growl escaped from the inside of the smoke, dispersing it completely and allowing everyone to see what was inside of it, making those that could identified it to tremble in fear.

The _**Ichibi no Shukaku (One-Tailed Shukaku)**_ stood proudly in all its glory, his form easily being bigger than the stadium itself, forcing everyone that wanted to catch a look of its face to look up.

The civilians watching this were all paralyzed in fear. Most of them didn't know that this thing was a Bijuu just like the Kyubi, but even then they could easily feel the bloodlust that Gaara was still releasing, which had become a lot stronger already. A lot of people even passed out or wet themselves out in nothing but sheer fear.

A lot of Genins and Chunins were in similar states, with them not being able to do anything but to watch since they were frozen in shock and fear, while some Jonins and ANBU were already on the moving, knowing that the situation had just gotten out of control.

They weren't the only ones acting now though.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With the Kages_

"What is the meaning of this, Kazekage?!" Minato asked in obvious rage towards his fellow Kage, his blue eyes watching Rasa with a glare.

"You're taking this situation in the wrong way, Hokage-san" Rasa answered while standing up, a lot calmer than Minato "This is just my foolish son not knowing how to control his power, nothing more".

Minato just observed him for a second before directing his gaze to the Sannin that were behind him "Orochimaru go and start evacuating the stadium alongside the ANBU and Jonins, sensei you stay with me, we'll stop this ourselves".

Both sannins nodded, with Orochimaru leaving in a _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_ while Jiraiya stayed with his eyes set firmly on Shukaku.

Minato then gave the Kazekage another cold glance before speaking in a zero nonsense tone "I'm going to guess that I have your cooperation then?" Minato's hidden treat was obvious to the world, basically saying that if Rasa didn't support him on this it would be as good as a declaration of war between their villages.

"Of course, Hokage-san, we are allies after all" Rasa answered, making sure to remember Minato that Suna was their only real ally.

Minato nodded before turning around to face the other two Kages, who had stayed silent until now. Minato saw how both A and Onoki's bodyguards were already in front of them, ready to take away their Kages if Shukaku even turned a little bit towards them.

The blonde Kage was about to ask for their help too, after all a Bijuu should never be underestimated, but the words ended up dying on his throat by the looks he received from them. It was more than obvious for Minato that they wouldn't help him protect his village.

"The situation is still not so bad, Hokage-san" Rasa spoke, making Minato to turn around and face him "Right now my son is still on control of that form instead of Shukaku, and as long as it stays like that I believe he will only have one objective".

"Naruto…" Minato muttered, now knowing that his son was in an even greater danger than before.

Then a purple light appeared on the opposite side of where the transformed Gaara was. It was such a strong light that it actually made people's attention go from the form of Shukaku to said light.

"It looks like your brat still has a plan, Minato" A spoke, making Minato's eyes go wide. Why was Naruto still on the arena?! Shouldn't Itachi already realize that the fight didn't matter anymore and take Naruto out of there?!

"Dammit" Minato cursed under his breath, a sense of dread entering on his heart. The blonde Kage quickly took out one of his special kunais, more than ready to throw it to where his son is and take him out of there before something happened to him.

Just as he did that the transformed Gaara finally decided to move, and with his mouth wide open it looked like he was going to attack Naruto and finish him once it for all.

However both Minato and Shukaku were stopped on their tracks by what happened next. From the place in which Naruto was the purple light that was shinning there and that had even hidden Naruto from view suddenly shot upward, turning itself into a gigantic dark pillar of energy.

Minato had his eyes wide in shock at the sight, having no idea what was happening or what Naruto was trying to do. He wasn't the only one of course, since everyone else in the booth were having similar expressions of shock.

Even the transformed Gaara had stopped his attack, and was observing the pillar with a sense of trepidation, almost as if knowing that whatever this pillar was it was going to be bad for him.

Other specific people were having different reactions though.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Alcor_

'**Oh my… I think I might have gone a little bit overboard with this one' **Alcor thought, his red eyes looking at the form of Shukaku.

Sure, he had wanted to give Naruto a challenge, but maybe messing with Gaara's already crazy mind might not have been the best of all plans…

However Alcor's sudden nervous expression turned into his normal creepy smile as soon as he saw what Naruto was trying to do, and what Zeref was certainly about to do.

The smile became a little wider as soon as he felt a presence by his side, said presence belonging to none other than Zeref himself.

"**I hope you manage to keep that pet of yours on check if you're going to call him here, Zeref-kun, or else this whole village might become nothing but a wasteland"** said the white-haired man, his red eyes looking at Zeref with a hidden edge to it.

Zeref for his part just ignored the man, his eyes focused on his apprentice's form, knowing what was about to happen and what his own role on it was.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_A few minutes ago, with Naruto_

The blonde mage looked up at the looming form of Shukaku, multiple feelings rising on him at the sight of the one-tailed beast.

Of course none of those feelings were good ones. Naruto might be a person that didn't give up easily to the point of being stupidly stubborn, but not even he could see a way to escape this situation.

He doubted that giving up now would stop Gaara from simply crushing him, so what other options did he had left? He had no more strength left on him and his body could barely respond to him.

Was there really nothing he could do? Was he just going to die here? Without really accomplishing anything?

Then a sudden pull made Naruto turn his head to the left, or to be more precise tot the form of the katana that his sensei had given him. The sword itself was stabbed to the ground, making Naruto wonder how it had gotten there. He had lost the sword at the middle of the fight sure, but he didn't remember it falling here. Maybe Shukaku's sudden apparition had pushed the sword over here?

Those thoughts were washed from Naruto's head as soon as he felt another pull coming from the sword. What was that anyway? His sensei had told him that the sword wasn't especial at all, besides being able to be used with magic and that it could be used to call-

Naruto's eyes opened wide as a sudden realization hit his head. How could he have forgotten about that?! He knew it might not work but it was the only other option he had since it already looked like no one was coming to help him.

With all the strength he had left Naruto crawled towards the sword by using his good arm, pain filling his body every time he moved, but to him it didn't matter right now. He had to reach the sword or else he was going to die, he was sure of that.

He finally managed to reach it, his right hand grasping the handle of the sword and using it to push himself up.

'Please, I need your help… just for this one… please' Naruto begged in his head, not even knowing to who _exactly_ he was begging to. Was he asking for help to the sword itself, or to the being that this sword could call?

He honestly didn't know, but it looked like the katana did, since the next thing that happened was that a purple magical circle appeared below him and the sword alongside a powerful purple light that even blinded him.

He still didn't know if it was working, but he didn't care, he just focused as much magic he could actually muster in the sword, even though it didn't felt like the blade cared or not, but the blonde was desperate right now to call _him._

To call the King

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Back on the stands_

Uchiha Sasuki knew Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto.

That statement was something that the young girl could say proudly and certainly, even though there were plenty of things that Sasuki knew Naruto was hiding from her.

But even after that Sasuki still believed that she knew Naruto better than anyone, from his personality to how strong he was.

Of course she had always known that Naruto was strong. Stronger than any Genin from their graduation class, and in her opinion he was probably the strongest Genin in this Chunin Exams.

But not even believing that could prepare her to what she was now seeing.

The young Uchiha had managed to escape the infirmary after hearing some of the medic-nin talking about the final match about of start. Of course Sasuki knew that her friend had to be one of the finalist, after all not only she knew he was stronger than the rest, but she had also caught a glimpse of just how beat Menma looked when they brought him here.

A part of her had felt a little bad for the blonde jinchuriki, but even then she knew that Menma had it coming for him because of how bad he always treated Naruto.

But back on the matter at hand, Sasuki had managed to escape the infirmary in order to go and watch her blonde teammate fight in the finals, which she was sure he would win, but while she was making her escape she had being stopped by none other than Tsunade of the Sannin.

And for a moment here it looked like the Sannin was going to drag her back to her bead and force her to rest, but a look at her eyes had made Tsunade release a sigh and actually accompany the young Uchiha to see the fight in order to make sure she didn't do anything to hurt herself even more.

And then they had reached the stands, and what they saw left them speechless.

Both Sasuki and Tsunade had been greeted with the sight of a fully formed Shukaku looking down at a purple light.

Before Tsunade could even recover from the sight Sasuki had already ran towards the edge of the railing in order to get a closer look. What was that thing?! From where did it appear? And where was Naruto?!

The answer to that last question came when she caught a glimpse of who was standing in the middle of the purple light, which of course was none other than her friend himself.

Sasuki wanted to scream at him to leave quickly, to stop doing whatever he was trying to do and just escape, after all it she could feel the power coming out of the gigantic beast that was looking down at her friend and she knew that the was no way he could face that by himself, strong or not.

But a hand on her shoulder had stopped her from that. She had turned around and ended up face to face with her Onii-sama, Itachi, who had just shaken his head at her.

It was then than it happened. Before Sasuki got the chance to ask Itachi why wasn't he helping her friend the light that had surrounded Naruto had turned into a gigantic pillar of purple energy that shot itself into the sky.

Then a sight that would forever be engraved in everyone's mind appeared.

The pillar became smaller, and from it a being like nothing anyone had ever seen appeared. This being was huge, easily towering over the stadium. It had a lean body, with what looked like black scales covering it completely, although the scales also had multiple blue marks. Its body was being held by four strong looking legs, each one ending in claws, while its face had beady white eyes. It even had a tail that moved behind it and that ended in a stinger-like form. It's most interesting part had to be its wings though, which were a pair of feathery wings attached to its back.

You could even see the being's razor-sharp teeth that were on its mouth, and that alongside everything else truly made it quite the imposing sight.

But then the roar came.

The being raised his head to the sky and released a might roar that easily resounded everywhere in the village, forcing everyone in the stadium to shield their ears from the sound. Even Shukaku gave a step back in shock, not knowing that to make of the newcomer.

Then a feeling of doom set itself into everyone's heart. Those that had been presence the day that the Kyubi attacked the village were once again reminded of that day, only that this time it wasn't the Kyubi that was releasing such a presence, but rather this strange being.

Plenty of civilians passed out quickly as soon as the presence washed over the stadium, alongside plenty of Genins and Chunins. Those that were left awake were all paralyzed in fear, from the few Genins that were still up to even the strongest Jonin and ANBU like Kakashi and Itachi, the heads of the clans, the Sannins and even the Kages back on their booth.

None of them had ever felt something like that, not even when they had faced Bijuus. They didn't know what this thing was but one thing became certain on everyone's mind.

It was a monster.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Alcor and Zeref_

"**Such an annoying being…"** Alcor muttered, his smile gone and his red eyes looking directly at the black beast with a calculative gaze. He was truly glad that the damn thing could not actually harm him, after all he was one of those beings that was stronger him.

For his part Zeref just looked at the gigantic _dragon_ with his normal expressionless look, although there was this certain edge to it on his eyes. He had felt it just a few seconds before, the sword that he had given to his apprentice practically asking for permission in order to call this being to this realm, which of course Zeref had allowed, after all if he didn't his apprentice would have been left defenseless.

The mage kept looking at the monster, one single word escaping his lips, a word that back in his world was synonymous of destruction.

"Acnologia…"

The King of Dragons had appeared

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Sorry for how long it took to get this chapter out. I won't hit you with excuses, and I'll only say that now that school has begun for me chapters might appeared later**

**Anyway I knew that the final part of last chapter was going to make some people angry, but geez you guys seem quite divided at the middle, with some wanting Naruto to kill Menma and others glad that it didn't happen. Well I know I can't make everyone like certain parts of this fic, and if you didn't like Menma still being alive then that's fine, but that is the decision that I made.**

**That part was not about Naruto winning a moral fight or about him being the "better person". It was about him making a decision. Was it a good decision? Or was it a bad one? Who knows? As far as you guys know Menma might now change… or he might become even worse. What matters is that Naruto will have to deal with the consequences of his actions**

**A review said that killing Menma would have brought a good plot-line for the fic, and I agree with that, but Menma's role is still no over. I did not create him just to bash him or anything like that. That would have been too easy**

**Anyway next chapter finally end this arc (thank god) and directly shots us on the last two arcs of this part of the fic**

**Once again thanks to you all who read, favorite, followed and reviewed this fic. I'll do try to get next chapter quicker!**

**Next Chapter: Black Dragon**


	22. Climax: Black Dragon

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

**Chapter 20**

**Climax: Black Dragon**

"It actually worked…" Naruto couldn't help but to mumble to himself, his eyes widened in shock by what he had just done

Of course his sensei had showed him just _who_ his sword could summon, and he even showed it to him, which was the first time Naruto ever met the mighty King of Dragons, Acnologia

To say that it had been a unique meeting would have been putting it short. As soon as the black dragon had appeared he had tried to kill both him and his sensei, but somehow his sensei had stopped the dragon from just killing them and flying away

He still didn't manage to get that part. At one moment Acnologia had lunged at both him and Zeref and then at the next moment the dragon had been on the ground, apparently twisting and growling in pain

Not even that had managed to lessen the impression that Acnologia's presence had left on Naruto though. He had once believed that his sensei had to be one of the strongest beings alive, but now he knew that there was someone else that could easily rival his sensei in power

Not only that but Acnologia was the first _alive_ dragon that Naruto had ever met, and the only thing he could hope was that the rest of the dragons that were on the Elemental Nations weren't like their King; at least Raijin hadn't acted like Acnologia at all

He supposed that it was logical that no other dragon were like Acnologia, after all he doubted that humanity would had been able to survive the wrath of five human-hating dragons

Naruto didn't want to call Acnologia though. Even if his sensei had told him that calling Acnologia should be used as a last resort, he still felt more than a little conflicted about calling someone that could not only blast Konoha and turned it into a big crater, but that would gladly do it just for the sake of it

Definitely not a good thought, but in the end Naruto's survival instincts had kicked in and calling Acnologia seemed like the only way he would be able to survive against something like a fully transformed, Shukaku-like Gaara

He could now only hope that his sensei's promise about Acnologia 'behaving' himself actually held itself true

Acnologia released another roar that shook the skies, his feathery wings extending themselves to their full span before flapping once, releasing a gust of wind strong enough that even Shukaku felt it

Naruto's current location made him focus completely on actually keeping his footing; after all he was right now lying on the middle of Acnologia's back, using his chakra to glue himself as best as he could to the body of the dragon, which was kind of hard with a broken arm and less than half of your chakra being left on your body

The black dragon moved his head, apparently inspecting the new place he now found himself in. His beady white eyes first looked at the group of humans on the stands that were looking at him back with combination of awe and fear, that last one being the most common feeling between them

Then Acnologia looked towards Shukaku, who apparently was still frozen in shock. The dragon looked directly at the transformed Jinchuriki before simply turning the other way, deeming both the humans and the Bijuu as nothing but ants not even worthy of his attention

It was when the dragon looked to his right that he actually stopped and just looked, his white eyes focusing on the two figures that were residing on the roof in that part of the stadium

The dragon easily recognized both of them, a sudden sense of hate and rage entering his heart as soon as his eyes met the black ones of the man that had created the monster known as E.N.D

The same monster that had taken his life back on their own world

He didn't know who he hated more, if the monster itself of his creator

With an angry roar that was actually even stronger than the past one Acnologia flapped his wings again, nothing but blind rage guiding him now. The dragon crouched a little bit before, with one fluid movement of his paws and wings, taking the skies as only a member of his race could

Naruto found himself doing his best to stay on Acnologia's back since he really didn't want to fall off to his certain death. He also had no idea of what the black dragon was even thinking of doing, but then again it wasn't as if he had any source of control or authority over Acnologia. He doubted anyone had such a thing, with the exception of his sensei apparently

It was once that Acnologia reached an altitude high enough that the dragon stopped flying upwards and simply stayed static on the sky, his wings doing their best to keep him up

The dragon opened his maw, magic swirling on his opened jaw to the point that it was clearly visible, and even if you couldn't see it you could easily _feel_ it, which was what Naruto was feeling right now

The blonde knew that Acnologia was strong, after all his sensei had talked to him about the dragon's immense power, and even then Acnologia's sheer presence excluded nothing but power, but to actually feel it? It was a whole different thing, and Naruto was certainly not ready for that

The blonde couldn't see what Acnologia was doing, but the sheer amount of magic that the dragon was releasing was simply too much. Naruto was even sure that the amount of magic Acnologia was handling was even more than what Naruto had in his whole body

It was certainly a sobering thought

But then panic set itself into the blonde's heart. With that much magic there was no doubt that whatever Acnologia was about to do would be destructive to say at least

No, scratch that, the whole stadium would become nothing but cinders!

Naruto's despair grew as Acnologia's charged even more magical energy in his mouth

Back down at the stadium people were doing their best to look up to the strange new being that had appeared on the stage, even Shukaku was simply looking up, ignoring everything else around him, none of them knowing that their lives could end at any second

With the exception of a few individuals of course

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Zeref and Alcor_

"**Zeref-kun, please do something before that stupid lizard blows everything up"** Alcor said to the dark mage, his tone calm and collected. It wasn't like he was in any real danger anyway. Sure, Acnologia might be a lot stronger than him, just like Zeref, but just like with the dark mage Alcor had an advantage over the dragon that made the white-haired man very confident

In fact he could easily stop the dragon himself, but decided not to, after all Acnologia was Zeref's responsibility, so he would let the dark mage to handle it

It didn't mean he wouldn't punish Zeref if Acnologia's sudden appearance ended up causing too much damage, but from Alcor's point of view as long as the dragon didn't destroy the village his presence might actually help his plan

Alcor smiled at that thought. There was nothing that he liked more than a plan coming together perfectly

"Fool" Zeref muttered under his breath, also observing how Acnologia got ready to shot an attack that would certainly turn Konoha into a crater. Of course Zeref would not allow that. He really didn't care about the people living in this place at all, but right now the last thing the dark mage needed was Acnologia fucking everything up just because he couldn't get a hold of his rage

Honestly if it wasn't because of how useful Acnologia could be in the future he would have already killed him, or at least left him to rot into whatever place he resided when he wasn't called here

Zeref gripped the object that was on his right hand tighter, said object being the sword that the Shinigami had given him and that he had given to his apprentice for this tournament

The sword had come to him just after Acnologia appeared on the stadium, returning to its _real_ owner's hands

Zeref had lied to his apprentice about the katana's full set of abilities. There were plenty of other things that this sword could actually do besides what he had showed to his apprentice, but right now it was better for Naruto to been kept on the dark about some stuff, specially everything related to the God of Death

One of the abilities of the sword was that Zeref could easily call it to him and the sword would appear in a flash. It didn't matter how long was the distance between Zeref and the blade this ability still worked perfectly

Its greatest strength had to be its ability to bring people to this world. He still didn't understand how that exactly worked though. The Shinigami had been nothing but vague about it, saying that there were things that not even him knew about souls, while Alcor would only answer with a smile and a shrug every time he asked

It was this same sword that had brought that god slayer, Zancrow, to this world, the difference between the mage and Acnologia being that he could easily keep Zancrow on check while Acnologia was too much of a wild card to be left to roam free, which is why Zeref made sure to keep the dragon out of this world as much as he could

There were other abilities that the sword had that allowed for Zeref to have more control over those that the sword itself called to this world, and Zeref knew that against someone like Acnologia he _had_ to use them, after all the black dragon wasn't like Zancrow who was completely terrified of him, even though the blonde slayer always did his best to hide it

With a swift but small movement Zeref waved his blade, his mind focused. The kanji of 'King' that the sword had shinned blue for a moment, its function becoming apparent just a second after

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Acnologia and Naruto_

The massive black dragon was about to blast Zeref out of this world, not caring at all if he ended up killing everyone else in the village in the process, after all why should him care about _humans_ at all?

However just before Acnologia got to use his attack a sudden wave of unimaginable pain coursed through his body, making the dragon to lose focus of his magic, the attack dissipating from his maw

Acnologia released a mighty roar of pain, his frontal claws actually moving towards his head. The pain was so much that the dragon of apocalypse wasn't even able to keep his steady floating on the sky

"Shit!" Naruto couldn't help but to curse. He had no idea what the hell had happened, but Acnologia was now practically free-falling towards the ground, the dragon's body spinning out of control, making Naruto almost slip out of his grip

However it looked like whatever was affecting the massive beast had stopped since just a few seconds later Acnologia managed to regain his bearings and use his wings once again to recover his balance, making the blonde mage that was riding his back to release a breath he didn't even know he was holding

Acnologia for his part just looked down at the where he knew Zeref was watching him, nothing but hate and malice showing itself in his white eyes. His previous enraged stated had made him forget just how much of a prisoner he actually was

It was then than a voice resounded on his head, a voice that he easily recognized and that just made him release a growl in response

'You never learn, do you?' Zeref's voice sounded on Acnologia's head, something that irked the dragon to no end

'**Mark my words, dark mage. You will die by my hands!'** Acnologia answered back with a thought, receiving nothing but a sigh from Zeref

'Maybe, but that day is not today, Acnologia, so you might as well do as I tell you. It would certainly make everything a lot smoother for both of us' Zeref answer was simple, however the content of them just made the dragon to release an angry snarl

'**I bow to **_**no one**_**, Zeref! Especially to the likes of you! I would rather die than to follow **_**your**_** commands!'**

'That could easily be arranged, you foolish dragon… but you're far too useful for that' Zeref answered, not the least affected by Acnologia's feelings towards him, after all he knew that the only thing Acnologia despised more than mankind were both him and E.N.D 'Besides, this time it wasn't me that called you'

Acnologia was about to rant at Zeref some more, but the mage's last words stopped him on his tracks. He hadn't called him? Then who did? He was sure that Zeref was the only bastard that could actually-

It was only then that Acnologia finally realized the little extra weight he had on his back. Not liking the idea of _anyone_ riding him as if he was a lesser being the dragon made a sudden and quick spin, taking Naruto by surprise

The blonde wasn't able to keep his hold on the dragon's back, and ended up slipping off, however instead of pummeling to his certain death Naruto was grabbed at mid-air by Acnologia himself with his right claw, tightly grabbing Naruto so that he wouldn't escape but not so tight to squish him to dead

That might change soon though

'I hope you consider your next actions very carefully, Acnologia, or else they might be the last mistake you'll ever make!' This time Zeref's voice came a lot more strict, and Acnologia imagined that the dark lord's eyes were probably crimson red right now, showing nothing but could fury. He didn't care though, he wanted for Zeref to suffer, and it was obvious for the dragon of apocalypse that somehow this little human he now held on his claw was important for Zeref

The dragon was more than ready to crush the puny little human on his claw, who was looking up at him trying to hide his fear; however another different voice resounded in Acnologia's head, one that made him stop on his tracks

'**That course of action would not be wise, Acnologia-san… At least not if you want your freedom'** This time it was Alcor's voice the one that Acnologia heard, a voice that, while not very familiar to it, was easily recognizable for the dragon king

'**You… you're that **_**God's**_** servant, aren't you?'** Acnologia thought, a little bit of venom appearing on his mind at the thought of the god that had forced him into this situation to begin whit, however Alcor's last comment was what got most of the dragon's attention **'What do you mean by freedom? Explain yourself, servant!'**

'**There's nothing much to explain, Acnologia-san. Once Zeref-kun's duty is over he, alongside you and that Zancrow fellow will be granted their freedom, meaning that you will not have to follow Zeref-kun's order anymore'**

Back down on the stadium Zeref was looking sharply at Alcor, who was now holding the black katana on his hands. He didn't know what the white-haired man was saying to the black dragon since he didn't had the sword on his grip, but he supposed it would be something that would help Naruto, after all Alcor wanted him alive almost as much as Zeref, if not even more

For his part the white-haired servant just smiled a little bit more, already knowing that Acnologia would easily take his bait, after all beings like him treasured their freedom more than anything. It wasn't like he was lying to him though, he was sure that his Master would reward them nicely

They might not like their reward though, but honestly their compliance wasn't that much of a factor anyway

'**And for that mission to be completed Zeref needs this… boy?'** The dragon questioned, not knowing what Zeref mission was. He hadn't care at all about it after all, and the few times he had actually been in the presence of the mage since he had been 'revived' hadn't being very informative

'**Yes, but let's leave the details for Zeref-kun, shall we? Right now the only thing you need to do is defeat that sand tanooki over there without causing that much of destruction as you're used to make'** Alcor answered while signaling to the form of Shukaku, who had finally gotten out of his shock and looked ready to attack his new opponent, knowing that his real objective, Naruto himself, was with him

'**I swear that if you're lying to me, I will make your death as painful as possible'** the dragon threatened, not trusting at all in the white-haired man, but what other options he had? He would truly rather die than to live as Zeref's slave, but if there was a chance of him gaining his freedom and then getting revenge on the dark mage then he would do anything to accomplish that

'**You have my word, Acnologia-san, after all my Master rewards those that are useful to him'** Alcor said, actually making the dragon to nod in acceptance

Then the dragon's focus went back to the tiny sack of flesh that was the human that he was holding on his claw. Said human couldn't do nothing but to simply stare at him, putting on a brave front, which honestly didn't impress Acnologia at all

He didn't understand why this little cockroach was important, and he didn't care. Even if said human was a dragon slayer, something that the King of dragons had easily assumed just by smelling the boy, he was still nothing but a human. He wasn't even a real dragon or someone worthy of his attention

Without even talking to him Acnologia simply threw Naruto over his shoulder, the blonde taking his chance and sticking himself to the dragon's back once again with chakra

'What the hell just happened?' Naruto had no idea what had transpired just now. At one moment it looked like his life was going to meet his end, killed by a dragon no less, but then it had looked like Acnologia had gotten himself distracted with the wind or something, and now he was 'safe' on the dragon's back

He didn't know how, but he had a feeling that his sensei had something to do with this

It was fortunate that Naruto was once again on the dragon's back, after all just a few seconds later multiple massive wind bullets, courtesy of Shukaku himself, hit Acnologia's chest directly

However if the dragon was affected at all by the attack then he didn't show it, in fact he didn't even flinch under the assault. It was no surprise though, since those wind bullets felt like nothing but bug-bites for the black dragon

Then with another roar Acnologia flapped his wings and launched himself directly at Shukaku. He knew he could just destroy him with one breath attack, but since now he had to keep the destruction to the minimum he might as well _play_ with the tanooki a little bit, after all the dragon had a lot of rage wanting to be released, and now he had been granted a good enough chewing toy

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Down at the stadium_

"**See, Zeref-kun? Sometimes you get more followers with promises rather than with threats"** Alcor said to Zeref almost as if he was talking to a small child, receiving nothing but a cold glare from said dark mage

Alcor then returned his sword to Zeref, which the dark mage quickly took. It was this same weapon that allowed him to easily control Acnologia and even communicate with him, which was how they had talked just now

Alcor could apparently also used it, something that Zeref guessed was because of his status as the Shinigami's servant

Both mage and servant then kept their focus on Acnologia in order to make sure that the dragon didn't do anything unnecessary, with Zeref being more than ready to punish him if needed

Shukaku for his part kept shooting his wind bullets at Acnologia, who was now flying directly towards him; however none of his attacks made any apparent damage. They did hit the dragon but it was as if he didn't even felt it!

Not expecting for his opponent to endure his attacks so easily Shukaku wasn't able to do anything but raise his arm as soon as Acnologia got close to him

The dragon opened his mouth, his fangs shining with black energy as soon as he did. Once he reached Shukaku he was quick to bit his arm, the rest of his body also impacting the sand tanooki, with the dragon's claws tightly grabbing on the Bijuu's body

The sudden collision made Shukaku to lose his balance, the one-tailed Bijuu then failing on his back while Acnologia stood over him. This made Shukaku to fall over one of the walls of the stadium, completely destroying it alongside the booth in which the Genins that had fought in this exam had resided

It was fortunate that no Genins were left or else they would had certainly died, crushed under the weight of both beasts

Shukaku wasn't able to do anything but to scream in pain as Acnologia tightened his bit over his right arm. It became worse when Shukaku's arm slowly turned from it sand-colored form to a black/grey one starting from the point in which Acnologia's fans met his arm

It didn't take long for Shukaku's arm to completely turn grey, and when it did Acnologia made his move. With a quick pull the dragon tore off the Bijuu's whole arm, making said Bijuu to release an agonizing scream

Acnologia simply crushed the arm on his mouth with his fangs, said arm turning into nothing but dust, easily crumbling away from the dragon's jaws. Acnologia was far from over though, and he quickly moved away from Shukaku, his next objective being his legs

With another bite Acnologia got a hold of Shukaku's left leg, and before the Bijuu even got a time to complain Acnologia's wings pushed both of them of the ground

They didn't get that high before Shukaku's entire left leg also turned grey in color from Acnologia's onslaught. Then with another sudden movement the black dragon moved Shukaku like a whip, his leg coming out of his body while the rest of him simply crumbled on the harsh ground that was the middle of the stadium

Acnologia didn't even bother to crush this limb and simply spat it out of his maw. Shukaku, now fully realizing that he was in a rather bad situation actually tried to crawl away from his opponent, but Acnologia had yet to be finished with his little toy

With a black aura covering his right claw Acnologia stabbed said claw right into Shukaku's remaining leg, just getting another anguished scream from the Bijuu, which right now was like music for the black dragon, after all in his head he was picturing to do the exact same thing to Zeref as soon as he got the chance

It wasn't long for Shukaku's leg to turn grey and weak, only that this time Acnologia didn't rip it off. Instead he simply crushed it outright with his other claw, another scream of pain coming from Shukaku filling the stadium

The next thing Acnologia did was to flip Shukaku so that the Bijuu could look up at him, the dragon enjoying the simply look of _terror_ that became obvious on his little pray's yellow eyes

Deciding to finally end this since it was getting boring Acnologia quickly lunged at Shukaku's head, his fangs biting directly of the tanooki's face

Shukaku screamed as much as he could, but after a few seconds his yells of despair stopped coming, his once sand-colored head now being grey on color, almost pure black, a definitive effect of Acnologia's magic

With another thug the dragon severed the head of the one-tailed Bijuu from his body, leaving the torso with nothing but an arm attached to it

The head of Shukaku fell off from Acnologia's maw, crumbling a little bit once it touched the ground, an expression of horror encrusted on the Bijuu's face; however it was soon turned into nothing but dust as soon as Acnologia's claw crushed the head as if it was a sand castle

The people watching what could only be described as a massacre could do nothing but to stare with shock at what they had just witnessed, especially those that had recognized Shukaku as a Bijuu

Even if he was the weakest Bijuu he was still one of them, one of the supposed strongest beings in this world, and yet this being had just appeared and destroyed him so easily to the point that made Shukaku look like a weakling

Those that were from Suna were specially terrified of this new being, after all they knew for certain just how much of a monster Shukaku and Gaara were and yet this black thing had showed that Shukaku was not a mach for him at all

The fact that the black being had been called by a _Genin_ made it even worse in everyone's mind

Naruto for his part couldn't believe the strength that Acnologia held. It was simply mind-blowing how easy the dragon had destroyed a _Bijuu_. He now understood completely why his sensei had said that Acnologia was in a whole different level, a level that Naruto was now not sure if he would ever reach

With another roar Acnologia was suddenly covered by a purple light, his white eyes looking directly at where Zeref was

'**Remember my words, dark lord. Your death is approaching, and this time there will be no God to bring you back' ** and with those parting words the dragon disappeared in a purple flash by Zeref's command, the black katana that allowed that still firmly on his hand

Naruto of course didn't accompany the massive beast; his body falling towards the mount of sand that used to be Shukaku's torso, which softened Naruto's landing quite a lot, but considering Acnologia's height it was no surprise that the sudden fall still hurt, especially since Naruto's body was still severely damaged

Naruto met the sand face-first, not really caring right now about Acnologia's disappearance. The blonde's adrenaline, which was basically the only thing that kept him conscious, was now fading away, making Naruto want more than anything to just rest

The last thing Naruto saw before finally failing unconscious was a mop of auburn hair coming out of the sand, belonging to another unconscious individual

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Alcor_

"**Why do I have the feeling that he did all of that while thinking of you?"** Alcor said with a smile, his red-eyes looking to his side, expecting to find a brooding Zeref there, but instead he found no one, making the white-haired man to release a chuckle followed by a sigh

"**Geez, talking about rude…"** the servant muttered before suddenly standing up and cleaning the none-present dust out of his clothes **"Well I might as well get to work if I want to take advantage of this situation"**

Yes, Alcor already had ways of turning Acnologia's sudden presence in his favor

He would just have to wait for the moon to get high on the sky to make his move

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Orochimaru_

The snake Sannin currently found himself in one of the many subterraneous paths that lead to his lab under Konoha, his form even paler than normal with even cold sweat going down from his forehead

Just besides him there was a man in a normal ANBU uniform, which of course included a porcelain mask that hided his face. The only thing really visible about this individual was that it was probably a male and that he had silver hair pulled into a ponytail

Right now both individuals found themselves walking through this dark path, with Orochimaru on the lead while the ANBU followed easily, both their steps showing the hurry they had

"Orochimaru-sama, what's going on? Why did we come here right now?" the silver-haired man asked, not understanding why his sensei was acting the way he was. He didn't even know why they were here; his sensei had just grabbed him after and practically dragged him without explaining anything

He wondered if this had anything to do with what both of them had witnessed back at the Chunin Exam's stadium. It was a spectacle that was still engraved on the ANBU's memories, after all it wasn't everyday that you saw something literally thrashing a Bijuu as if it was nothing

But why would that affect his sensei like that? It made no sense on the silver-haired man's opinion

For his part Orochimaru just kept walking without answering his apprentice's question, too caught up in his thoughts for that. It had been brief but he had felt it, back at the stadium, _his _presence

It wasn't like Naruto's that resembled _him_. No, this time he was sure. _He_ had been there, and if _he_ was there then Orochimaru wanted to be as far away from that place as possible. As far away from the object of his nightmares as he could

Sadly his wish would not be granted so easily

"What is the hurry, little snake?" a sudden voice resounded on the hall, making both Orochimaru and the ANBU to stop on his tracks, the formed with an expression of sheer horror while the other one got in a stance ready to act, knowing that no one should be here right now

Then from the shadows on the tunnel a man appeared, his sudden appearance making the ANBU tense while Orochimaru did nothing but stare at the newcomer in shock and fear, even giving a step back, his whole body trembling

"It seems that you remember me, little Sannin" The man said, his black eyes quickly turning into crimson red ones, showing nothing but coldness. The man started walking towards the two Konoha shinobis, not the least affected by the glare the ANBU send his way

"I think it's time we have a talk about keeping secrets, don't you think so, little snake?" The man known as Zeref said, looking down on the Sannin that he had met years ago

One of the only two persons that he had spared that day

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_That night, Uzumaki-Namikaze residence_

If there was one thing that Uzumaki-Namikaze family could definitely feel proud off was of just safe their home was, after all the house was protected by seals that were done by the three greatest seal-masters of the village, them being the current Hokage, his wife and his sensei

However it didn't matter just how strong the security of the place was, it couldn't be prepared for the sudden intrusion of a man that didn't even belonged to this world, let alone this village

This man currently found himself in the bedroom of the youngest resident of this house, that person being none other than one Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsumi

Said girl was of course currently sleeping on her bead, deep in slumber. The man that had entered her house and bedroom also did his best to not wake the young girl, or else things could get a little bit too messy for his liking

The man inspected the room with a little bit of interest, but in the end his red-eyes found themselves focused on no one but the sleeping girl, who in her deep slumber state wore a peaceful expression that the man found refreshing

The white-haired man walked closer to her bed, a smile present on his lips just like always. Suddenly a blue aura covered his right hand, which the man had lifted to his own face before inspecting the light, almost as if he didn't know what it was

"**I hope you don't take this personally, little girl"** Alcor said, however his eyes showed no regret for what he was about to do **"You just had the bad luck of being born in this family"**

Alcor's right hand, which was still covered in the same blue aura, slowly got close to Natsumi's face, the young girls having no idea what was about to happen to her

"**You should feel proud of yourself though"** Alcor said, his hand now just inches away from Natsumi, the light of his blue aura shinning over the young girl's face **"After all your sacrifice will be for the benefice of the greater good"**

And then the sound of something breaking was the only thing heard on that room

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Short chapter I know, but this one was just to close the Chunin Exams and to start showing things that will matter in the next arc, which will of course start in the next chapter**

**For those that wanted Acnologia to, well, blow everything up I'm sorry to say I couldn't do that. C'mon let's be realistic here, while that would have been awesome I can't just kill everyone in one scene…yet**

**So what you got was Acnologia owning Shukaku. Not much of a surprise there I know. If Acnologia seemed a little bit OOC then I'm sorry, but do take in count that I had thought of this way before Acnologia even got a dialogue on the Fairy Tail manga.**

**I know some of you will be dissapointed by Acnologia not showing everything he had, but the time for that will come, don't worry**

**Why do I have the feeling that this chapter's cliffhanger is going to get me some hate? Oh well, I guess I'm a masochist or something. I wonder who is more hated right now, if Menma or Alcor…**

**Once again thank you all for reading this fic. It has reached the 2000 followers mark and I can't express how awesome that is!**

**Next Chapter: Hiding no more**


	23. No Longer In the Shadows

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsus/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

**Chapter 21**

**No Longer In the Shadows**

_Uzumaki-Namikaze residence_

The only expression that plastered itself on Alcor's face was one of utter shock, his right hand mere inches away from the face of the youngest red-head of the Uzumaki-Namikaze family

However the white-haired man couldn't move his hand at all, not even an inch, so even though he was so close to his objective he couldn't finish his mission

The reason for this was the hand that was gripping the red-eyed man so tightly that it had already broken his wrist, the sound of the bones snapping had even resounded in the rather quite bedroom

Alcor's eyes were fixated on the man that was holding his hand, stopping him from carrying his objective. There wasn't much that he could see from this individual considering his situation, but Alcor easily recognized the grey eyes that stared back at him showing nothing but cold fury

Then without any kind of warning both men disappeared, leaving no trail of their presence in Natsumi's room

The young owner of the room was still on her deep slumbered state, having no idea of how close she had been to become another victim in a war she didn't even know that existed

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Hokage's Monument_

Both individuals appeared right on top on the monument, Alcor's broken wrist still being held tightly by the individual that had stopped him just a few seconds ago

As soon as both arrived they quickly made their move, with Alcor raising his free hand, in which he had created a disc made of blue-like energy, just in time to stop the katana that had tried to cut his head off his shoulders, courtesy of the man that was still glaring coldly at the white-haired man

The sword struck Alcor's creation, sparks flying as soon as both objects met. Both individuals struggled against each other, neither of them wanting to give an advantage to their opponent

Then both men jumped backwards, making some space between them, however their eyes were still glue to the other ones, both of them sporting nothing but a glare

"_**Shukufuku: Diarama (Bless: Diarama)**_**"** Alcor muttered, his left hand holding his broken wrist, a golden light traveling from his hand to his injure. It didn't took even a second for such an easy wound to heal completely, which Alcor shoed once he moved his right hand normally a second after the golden light disappeared

Alcor's eyes were still glued to this newcomer, and it was now that Alcor finally was able to see in detail just who had stopped him, even though he already knew who this person was.

This person was wearing something that was definitely not from this world, but that in plenty of other worlds would be considered a normal all black high school uniform. The person in front of Alcor could not be older then eighteen in appearances only, but his grey eyes showed a lot more wisdom that a person of his age would normally have. Besides the strange uniform the other things that stood out from this person were his short black hair, which was practically hidden by a black cap, his grey eyes and pale skin. He was also sporting a cape over his uniform that hid it almost completely, and on his right hand he was holding a deadly-looking silver katana

Alcor closed his eyes and took a deep breath, a smile once again appearing on his lips, although it was obvious for the world that it was a fake one, after all the white-haired man was doing his best to hide just how utterly _annoyed_ he felt by the fact that he had been stopped from doing his duty

He hated that

"**I should have known someone from your camp would appear sooner or later, although this is certainly an unexpected meeting"** Alcor said, his red eyes opening and looking directly at the silver-eyed man **"It's been a while since our last meeting, Kuzunoha Raidou-kun"**

"It has, Shinigami's dog" the man known as Raidou answered back, his voice showing just how angry he was because of Alcor's presence

However the white-haired man was already more than used to that kind of treatment so he simply released a chuckle before speaking

"**Isn't that a little bit hypocritical from your part, Raidou-kun? After all we are both nothing but servants of our respective Masters"** Alcor responded amused, a hand going to his mouth "**Then again, I guess we **_**are**_** quite different… after all at least I don't follow a useless Goddess"**

As soon as Alcor's words left his mouth he was forced to jump backwards in order to avoid another attack from Raidou's katana that would have cut him exactly in half

"Don't you dare to run your filthy mouth about Kami-sama" If Raidou's expression before showed angriness now his eyes showed nothing but murderous rage

"**See? This is what I don't like about you and all of Kami's servants. You always have this 'greater than thou' attitude, even though in the end we all are nothing but **_**dogs**_** that bends to our Master's will" **Alcor shot back, a mocking smile present on his lips **"If Kami were to tell you to kill innocent people you wouldn't even ask how many, you would simply kill as much as you could just to please her!**

"That's the difference between my Mistress and your _Lord_, Alcor! Kami-sama would never ask me to do such a thing!" Raidou answered with obvious steel on his voice, knowing perfectly that his Mistress would never ask anyone to do such a heinous thing

"**And that's exactly why Yami is winning this little war right now"** Alcor said, knowing that there was nothing his fellow servant could dispute about that statement

It was after all a correct one. There had been plenty of things that Kami could have done that would have prevented the current mess that everyone found themselves in, but that she hadn't done

Alcor didn't care about why she hadn't; the only thing he believed was that a Goddess that couldn't even accomplish her mission was a useless Goddess

The white-haired man brought a hand to his hair, already deciding that he had enough of having _fun_ with Raidou, after all while Raidou was not that much stronger than him he still didn't want to cause an scene here, although he seriously doubted his fellow servant would do something so utterly stupid like that

"**So, are you going to tell me why you decided to stop me from doing my busyness or are you just going to stand there and glare at me like a child?"** Alcor asked, any evidence of his previous playful expression already gone, instead there was a completely serious face, which was no surprise considering how important doing his job was for the white-haired man

"I don't care what your mission is, but Natsumi-sama is under my protection, Alcor, so you better keep your filthy hands away from her before I cut them" Raidou threatened, truly more than ready to kill this man if he tried anything again towards young Natsumi, after all he had been given a mission and he would certainly not fail

"**Hmm, interesting…"** the red-eyed servant muttered, his eyes looking over Raidou with barely conceived interest **"I have been messing with that family as if they were my personal playground for years and yet no one interfered, but when I try to do something with that girl suddenly you flip… What's so important about her?"** Alcor voiced out his question, not understanding why Kami would send anyone to protect that stupid girl. She wasn't that special, at least not that Alcor knew, after all he hadn't see her do anything remotely interesting besides those chains of her, and his Lord didn't tell him anything about her so why would Raidou be send to protect her?

"My reasons are of my own, Alcor. I will only say this once; if you try anything against Natsumi-sama I will kill you" Raidou's voice was as cold as it could get, after all he knew just how much of a problem Alcor could truly be if the man tried

"**Now now, there's no need to go all deadly like that, is there?"** Alcor's smile was back on his face, his smooth voice easily reaching Raidou's ears **"We're both servants and we know how important is for us to do our job, so I'm sure we can reach some sort of compromise here, don't you agree?"**

Raidou was about to shot Alcor's proposal down, and even threat the man to put a bullet between his eyes If he didn't just left Natsumi alone, but a change on Alcor made the man stop on his tracks. He didn't know why but the white-haired man suddenly stiffened, his eyes shooting wide open in alarm and his whole body now obviously tense

"**I'm afraid our meeting will have to be cut short, Raidou-kun"** even his voice sounded nervous, which was something Raidou easily caught on **"Someone is calling me and It would not be polite to let them waiting"**

And with that a blue light suddenly covered Alcor completely just before the servant disappeared, leaving Raidou alone on top of the Hokage's monument

The black haired man released a breath before sheathing his katana, his grey eyes looking over the village with a glint of regret on them

It was no surprise, considering how Raidou knew what Alcor had been doing in the village for years. The servant of Kami didn't know exactly everything that Alcor had manipulated to his favor, but he had a pretty big idea of what the red-eyed man had done, and he didn't liked it one bit

He would have stopped the man a long time ago, after all if there was something he hated was how Alcor liked to play with humans with no considerations of their well-beings. He had seen Alcor's handiwork first-hand and the end result wasn't something that Raidou would ever accept

Sadly his orders had been clear. He could not interfere with Alcor's doings, or in anything from that matter. The only thing he could do was to protect one Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsumi from the shadows, basically becoming her 'Guardian Angel'. He was not allowed to interfere in her life, so the only real thing he could do was protect her from harm that she couldn't deal with herself

Alcor being one of them

The silver-eyed man had an idea of what Alcor would have done to Natsumi and he certainly didn't like it. He was more than sure that, just with everything else that Alcor did, it was related to Natsumi's older brother, Naruto, who was someone that Raidou regretted to not be able to watch closer since it looked like the young man would be deep in the current conflict

With a sad sigh the servant of Kami adjusted his cap before leaving the place, his cape moving alongside the wind, his objective being once again to return to Natsumi's shadow

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_The Shinigami's Domains_

"**You called for me, Master?"** Alcor asked while kneeling, his gaze also down, a flick of panic escaping his eyes, after all it wasn't normal for his Lord to call him like this. Sure he reported to him all the time, but for his Master to call him out like this out of nowhere was rare

And normally it wasn't good for him

The domains of the God of Death could only be best described as a void. It simply had nothing but darkness surrounding it. Alcor had always wondered if the realms of both Kami and Yami were just like these one, but he doubted that, especially from Kami

There was one thing that definitely made this place look even stranger though, and that was the multiple bluish, almost white orbs that were floating around everywhere, releasing a light that illuminated the place

Those objects were for what the Shinigami lived: souls. Every soul that has ever exited as a living being now resided in this world, with only a few exceptions escaping that rule

Namely multiple of the servants that now followed the Gods and some especial humans whose souls had been granted a second chance, like Zeref and Acnologia for example

The only place that wasn't covered by these floating orbs was the space in which the two residents of this world were. The first one was of course Alcor, who was still kneeling, waiting for his Master to speak to him

The second one was the Lord of this world and God of Death, the Shinigami, who found himself standing just a few steps away from Alcor, not even facing him

There was something completely different with the Shinigami this time though, or at least it was something different for the likes of Zeref that had only seen his spectral form.

The person standing just in front of Alcor looked very much like a human, even though he was a God. His current form was completely different from the one that he used when he was called to the point that they would never be considered the same being. The Shinigami's current form looked like a male roughly on his mid twenties, with white hair that was put into a ponytail and dark skin, alongside with golden yellow eyes that were upon a quite handsome face. His only clothing was a grey robe that covered his entire body

The God of Death rarely graced anyone with this form, with only a few of his servants and of course his two fellow Gods, Kami and Yami, actually knowing about it. He never showed himself like this in front of humans of course, preferring to use his other form when dealing with them, unlike his two siblings

The Shinigami had his arms behind his back, his eyes carefully watching every soul that was in front of them in rapt attention, almost as if they held the answers to every question the God could have

A wandering soul got too close to God of Death, prompting him to actually hold the white orb on his right hand, holding it almost in reverence

"**Tell me, Alcor…"** The Shinigami suddenly spoke in a calm and deep voice that actually made Alcor even more tense than before, if that was even possible **"Do you wish for your existence to end?**"

Alcor's eyes shot wide open in shock and fear, his head rising quickly and his gaze set directly on the back of his Master. The white haired man was about to ask what his Lord was talking about, his mouth open ready to voice his question, but before he could do that an extreme pain made itself present on Alcor's body, the red-eyed servant quickly falling to the floor, a hand on his chest, his mouth open but no sound leaving it

The Shinigami simply turned around slightly, his yellow eyes looking down at his suffering servant with nothing but disinterested apathy, while Alcor on the other hand was experiencing truly what had to be the worst kind of pain he had ever felt on his rather long life

It was not physical pain; it was something far worse, and something that the Shinigami could easily do anyone under his control. What Alcor was feeling was his soul being twisted inside of him, crushed simply by the will of the God in front him, with only a silent command from said God being the only thing that stood between Alcor's life and death

Finally after what it felt like hours for the white haired servant the pain stopped, leaving Alcor gasping for breath while still lying on the ground, his right hand still clutching his chest. This was not the first time his Lord had punished him, but this was definitely the greatest torment Alcor had received, even from his Master

If he had been able to talk the red-eyed man would have actually begged for mercy, or even for a quick death

"**I am very disappointed at you, Alcor"** The God of Death finally spoke while turning away, completely ignoring his servant's attempt at standing up **"I gave you a simple task, something that you should have accomplished easily based on your set of skills… and yet you still decided to ignore my orders"**

Alcor was about to speak, to quickly denied and refute what his Master was implying, but another direct look from the God's golden eyes stopped him on his track and brought the white-haired man once again to his knees, mentally hoping to come out alive after this

"**Your mission was simple. To make sure that Zeref Dragneel accomplished his given task, and that one Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto would not only grow in order to reach his full potential, but that he would also be loyal to Zeref, and by default, **_**me**_**"**

Alcor found himself nodding at this, after all he knew his mission, and while it was an easy one for him he also knew just how important it actually was

"**I guess I can't blame you for Zeref's own unpredictable tendencies"** the golden-eyed God continued, now looking down at his servant with calm stare **"And while you have done your mission, you have also strayed a lot from my orders"**

"**Everything that I have done was for the good of the mission, My Lord!"** Alcor was finally able to speak his mind, his voice coming a lot more forceful that he would have liked, and for a moment he thought that his Master would punish him once again, but lucky for him the pain never came

"**You broke the rules, Alcor"** the Shinigami stated calmly, not the least affected by his servant's outburst **"You trying to manipulate one Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsumi is just the last of your mistakes"**

Alcor was about to say something on his defense, but the God of Death gave him no room and simply kept talking, truly not caring about what his follower had to say **"I told you she was off limits, didn't I? Kami has her eyes on the girl for some reason and I do not need you to make this war even more conflictive that it is by targeting Kami's person of interest"**

Now that really made Alcor's eyes to widen in surprise. His Master _had_ told him to not mess with that girl, but he hadn't given him any reasons, just an order. He honestly thought that by this point just messing a little bit with her head couldn't cause that much of a problem

Apparently he had been wrong

"**However"** The Shinigami spoke, practically knowing what was going on Alcor's head **"Your real mistake was showing yourself to Uzumaki-Namikaze Menma"**

The pain appeared once again in Alcor's body only that this time it was less so, but still pretty painfully for the white-haired man, who was now doing his best to not fall to the floor again

"**I let you **_**indulge**_** yourself with the humans as a reward for your deeds, but** **not even you can break a rule and go away unpunished, Alcor"** The Shinigami continued **"I should have done this a while ago, but I decided to simply watch and decide if you were actually worthy of keeping around or not"**

The God of Death walked closed to a now shivering Alcor until he was directly in front of him, gazing lowly at the kneeling servant **"Lucky for you I have decided to spare you this time… From now on you will simply watch and report, no more meddling with the humans. Naruto's path is already set and does not need more of your **_**help"**_

"**You will also clean the mess you made by showing yourself to a human. **_**Do not**_** harm the boy, he could be useful in the future, but make sure that he doesn't remember you… Understood?"**

"**Yes, My lord!"** Alcor declared, more than ready to accomplish his Master's new task, and also more than grateful to simply be alive

"**Good"** The Shinigami accepted just before turning and walking back to his previous post, his golden eyes once again gazing at the multiple souls in his realm in rapt attention **"Do not fail me or I will destroy your soul Alcor… you might be a valuable asset, but you're hardly irreplaceable"**

"**Of course, My Lord"** Alcor muttered before abandoning this realm in a blue light, leaving the God of Death to contemplate the very thing for which he existed for

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Two days later, Konoha's main hospital_

It was early in the morning when Naruto finally woke up, his eyes fluttering open rather slowly, an expression of confusion slowly forming itself in his face

Where was he? He couldn't remember at all what had happened after his fight, in fact he barely even remember the details of the last few minutes of it, although he was sure of something, and that was that he had called Acnologia and that the dragon had destroyed Shukaku

Something like that was kind of hard to forget after all

Moving his head slightly Naruto gave an inspection to the place in which he was now residing. It was a rather simple-looking white room, with a single window on the left side of it, close to the bed in which he was laying, and a few chairs on the other side of the room, and a bunch of blankets pilled over one of the chairs

There were more than a few machines just besides his bed, some of them releasing a few sounds here and there. He also saw how a few of them were connected to him, basically confirming the place in which the blonde was

It was then that Naruto finally realized the state in which his body was, and he could only release a sigh. He could easily feel the multiple bandages that practically covered his whole body, specially his torso. His right arm was also bandaged, but it was his left arm the one that was in a casket and that he couldn't even move properly, which was no surprise considering the fact that said arm had been broken by Gaara in the fight

'I guess I'm in the hospital then…' the blonde thought, understanding where he was but not really liking it. It wasn't that he hated hospitals or anything, but he just felt way too vulnerable in his current state, and being in an unknown place like this was not something that Naruto liked

It was then that a movement coming from the bunch of blankets caught the blonde's eyes. Originally Naruto had thought that the groups of blankets were just that, blankets, but the sudden movement coming from them, alongside of course with the head popping out of the blankets just made Naruto groan, already feeling the headache that this person was going to cause him

Young Natsumi had just woken up from her little nap, her head popping out of the blankets that she had just used as a bed, her hands rubbing her eyes tiredly, trying their best to shake out the sleepiness she had

She had begged to her Kaa-chan to let her stay here for the night since she wanted to see her Onii-chan up as soon as he could, and although both her Kaa-chan and Tou-chan had refused at first in the end they weren't able to say no to her for too long

Her Kaa-chan, alongside her Onee-chan, had stayed with her for the night to make sure that she would be fine, and also with the hope that Naruto would wake up soon. Both of them had left a little bit earlier in order to check on the third Uzumaki-Namikaze triplet, Menma, leaving the young girl alone sleeping alongside her unconscious brother

Of course as soon as Natsumi managed to shake the sleepiness from herself the first thing she did was to look at where she was expecting for her unconscious older brother to be, but instead what she found was a frowning Naruto looking directly at her, making the blue-eyed girl to blink owlishly at him, the blankets that had covered her now falling to the floor

Both Uzumaki-Namikaze siblings stayed there, looking directly at each other without muttering any words. Naruto for his part just looked at the girl with a raised eyebrow, not really having anything to say to her while the Natsumi for her part was still trying to process the fact that her older brother was now awake

It didn't take that long for her to finally snap out of her shock

"Onii-chan!" the young girl practically screamed, and before Naruto had even a time to react she launched herself at him, making his eyes go wide in surprise at her sudden movement

The girl collided with the right side of Naruto's body and tightly embraced him as best as she could, not noticing how her sudden show of affection was making Naruto both extremely confused and uncomfortable. He was also feeling pain by the hug, after all not only was his body still very sore, but the damn girl had once hell of a vice-grip

Naruto would have tried to pry the girl off but his right arm also found itself trapped in her hug while his left arm just couldn't do the job. He was about to voice out his discomfort for this in the hope that the girl would leave him alone, but before he could do that the red-head suddenly raised her head and looked directly at his eyes, once again catching him off-guard

"I need to tell Kaa-chan and Onee-chan!" the girl suddenly declared, a look of determination appearing on her face, making the blonde just even more confused than before. The girl finally released his hold on her eldest sibling before practically running out of the room faster than Naruto thought capable, leaving the mage alone

Naruto just blinked while looking at the door, doing his best to process what had just happened in the few seconds that Natsumi had been here. Was that girl always on a sugar high or something? What had she been doing here anyway? And was what that about bringing her family?!

The blonde mage just released an annoyed sigh, already picturing what the girl was going to do, and he really hated it. The last thing he wanted was to see anyone from that cursed family right now. In fact besides the relationship he _had_ to have with Minato, since he's the Hokage, and the future conversation he _will_ have with Mito he would be extremely happy if he didn't have to deal with the Uzumaki-Namikaze clan anymore in the future

With his right hand Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering if he could escape this hospital before anyone came to annoy him. Of course that thought quickly disappeared from his head, he was in no condition to move around, and he doubted that he would get very far before someone would simply bring him back

Another thought then entered his head. Was Sasuki also in this place? She had been pretty roughed up during her fight with Mito so maybe she was here too? He had to admit that he was worried about her, not only about her health but also about her pride, after all Sasuki really didn't like to lose at all, and losing to Mito of all people probably struck her harder than anything else

He also thought about what he would do with the situation between himself and Sasuki. The last thing Naruto wanted was for his friendship with Sasuki to strain itself, or even worse to _end_ because of the secrets he was hiding from her, but he also understood that he couldn't just tell her everything as if that wouldn't bring any consequence. He would have to talk to his sensei about it and try to convince him that Sasuki was trustworthy; after all while Sasuki was one of the most precious people he had, he just couldn't betray his sensei and father figure's trust like that

It was then that the door of his room was open, taking Naruto out of his thoughts. Of course the blonde's eyes were directed at the door in order to see who it that was entering the room was, and who he saw made Naruto's eyes to open wide in shock. He had expected plenty of people to enter through that door, like doctors, Natsumi alongside her family, or maybe even Sasuki who had decided to visit him here, but he had definitely not expected _him!_

"S-sensei?!" Naruto exclaimed, incredible shocked by the presence of the dark mage that had trained him for the past six years

Zeref simply entered the hospital room, not the least affected or surprised by his apprentice's shocked face, after all he hadn't told the blonde what he had planned to do, so his presence in a place like this must have certainly be an unexpected surprise for him

The dark mage grabbed one of the chair and moved it closer to Naruto's bed before sitting with his arms crossed over his chest, his black eyes inspecting the room rather lazily

"What are you doing here, sensei?! Someone could see you here!" Naruto said, trying to get some answers from his teacher, after all wasn't he the one that told him to keep everything about him as a secret? Then why was he just showing himself in a place like this?! Didn't that ruin the purpose of hiding the truth?!

"You look stressed, Naruto-kun. You should relax a little bit more, especially if you want to recover as quick as possible" Zeref said, completely ignoring his apprentice's question, making said apprentice to give him an even more confused look

"What?!" This was one of those moments in which Naruto had no idea if his sensei was making fun of him or not, especially since his poker face never wavered at all

"Tell me, Naruto-kun" Zeref kept talking, shutting Naruto before the blonde could come up with another question "You do realize who the _real_ winner of the Chunin Exams was, don't you?"

That question made Naruto take a more serious expression, his eyes no glued to his lap while Zeref just observed him neutrally

"Gaara won" the blonde declared, a sigh escaping his lips "I would have died if it wasn't for Acnologia… Gaara won his fight against me and Acnologia defeated Shukaku… I just lost"

The blonde knew that what he was saying was true; after all he would have died if it wasn't for Acnologia's appearance. In retrospective he shouldn't have fought Gaara at all. His fight with Menma had left him way too weak for that, but he had left his pride and thirst for a good challenge to take over his more rational side

"Indeed" Zeref confirmed with a nod "While the official result is that you are the victor of the Chunin Exams, we both know that you only survived because of Acnologia, and we also know that Acnologia doesn't obey you at all"

This made Naruto nod, before voicing his own question "But Acnologia still helped me against Shukaku… why?" That was something that still bugged Naruto. Why had the Dragon King helped him so easily? Sure his sensei had told him that he would _obey_ but Acnologia didn't look like someone that would help just for the sake of helping

"Let's just say that I still have some leverage over that foolish dragon" was the only thing Zeref said about the subject, and while Naruto would have liked to question him more about it right now he had other things to ask his sensei, however it was Zeref the one that voiced his question first

"Tell me, Naruto-kun" there was a small shift in Zeref's voice that actually made Naruto a little bit nervous "Why didn't you kill Menma?"

Naruto's eyes shot wide-open at hearing that, not understand what his sensei was trying to ask him. Why hadn't he killed Menma? He didn't really have a reason to _not_ kill him during his fight, after all the moment had been there, he could have easily done it, but he hadn't, and he knew that the real reason behind it were the voiced that he had heard during the fight

One had told him to kill Menma while the other one had been obviously against the idea. He still wasn't sure about what those voices were, but what they had said had actually stroke a nerve on him, specially the voice that had told him to kill Menma

In fact it had been the words of that voice that had made him spare the jinchuriki. The simple thought of becoming someone that killed and brought pain to others out of enjoyment was what had stopped him from simply cutting Menma's head off. It was ironic, but also true. In fact he was damn sure that if none of those voices had started talking to him he _would_ have killed Menma

It was truly a strange thought. Menma owed his life to a psychotic voice on his head

"You think I should have killed him?" Naruto asked, curious about his sensei's opinion on the matter

"I don't know" was Zeref's answer, his eyes looking at the window on the other side of the room "It was your decision Naruto; no one can tell you if it was a good one or a bad one. Decisions are that, decision… However you must always be ready to accept the consequences of what we have decided"

Naruto just nodded, already used to this kind of sayings coming from the dark mage. He would have to tell his sensei about the voices too, maybe he would know something about it, but first Naruto had plenty of other questions to voice

The blonde was about to ask his mentor about why he was here on the first place and then talk to him about Sasuki, but a sudden round of noise coming from outside the room stopped the blonde from asking and also got the attention of both mages

Then before any of them even got a moment to react the door suddenly burst open, and with that two different people entered the room, not paying attention at all at the two mages inside

"Sasuki-san, please you need to go back to your own room and rest!" a black-haired woman wearing a black kimono said, her expression one of nervousness

"And I already told you that I'm fine! Don't you have anyone else to go and bother or something?!" the other person, another black-haired female, only that this one was definitely younger than the other, shot back, obviously upset with her older counterpart. She normally wouldn't react like that but the fricking woman, whose name if she remembered well was Shizune, had been pestering her every since she decided to come and visit Naruto

Couldn't she see that she was fine?!

Both women would have kept their little argument if it wasn't because of their attention suddenly going towards the two mages on the room, to which they easily recognized one while the other one was a stranger to them

Naruto for his part had a panicked expression on his face, his eyes darting from Sasuki and Shizune to his sensei, and then back fort. How could his sensei be so calm?! Couldn't he see that their secret was now in danger of just being discovered by not only Sasuki but a stranger of all people?!

Naruto was about to speak, an excuse quickly forming on his head, but just as he was about to voice it he was suddenly flipped on the nose by Zeref of all people, making Naruto to look at him as if he was crazy, but the only thing that he got was a look that basically told him to shut up and let him handle this

So he did

"Excuse me" the black haired apprentice of Tsunade said, earning the attention of both Naruto and Zeref "I'm sorry but, who are you exactly?"

Shizune couldn't help but to be curious about the black-haired man sitting in front of him, after all as far as she knew no one but Naruto's family should be visiting him, so who was this person? He looked like an Uchiha, but his clothes were too weird, and she had never seen him on the village before. She couldn't see his forehead protector either, so maybe he was a civilian?

Sasuki for her part just looked at Zeref with a narrowed gaze, trying to figure out who this man was and what his relationship with her friend was. Naruto was not a person to act so comfortable around strangers, and yet this guy had just flicked him on the nose of all pleases and her blond teammate just acted as if that was normal!

The black-haired mage just looked at the two females in front of him with a bored look, his eyes barely looking at Shizune but practically making a hole in Sasuki's head. Sasuki actually managed to take Zeref's cold look head on for about five seconds before quickly turning away, not liking how utterly vulnerable she felt when looking at those black eyes that resembled hers so much

Then it looked like Zeref was about to speak, but another round of sounds coming from outside the room stopped him. The sound was followed by the door opening again, from which a red blur practically dashed directly towards Naruto, completely ignoring everyone else in the room

The blur impacted with Naruto's right side, miraculously not hitting Zeref in the process, and also making Naruto to release a grunt of pain

"See?! I told you he was awake!" the red-blur, which actually happened to be none other than Natsumi declared happily towards the two other females red-headed females and silver-haired male that were still on the entrance of the room, which of course made everyone to put their attention there, making Naruto to curse under his breath, after all just standing there were the other two females of the Uzumaki-Namikaze clan and one of the Jonin senseis of his team, Kakashi

"Mito-chan please stop that, you're hurting Nii-san!" Mito was the first one to enter the room while scolding her little sister, but the presence of other people in the room stopped her from directly going over and prying Natsumi off Naruto

She understood why Shizune was here, after all she _worked_ here, but who was the guy just sitting beside her Nii-san? And why was Sasuki here?! Didn't she have other people to bother or other places to annoy just with her presence?

Sasuki's eyes quickly found Mito with a glare, which Mito returned in kind, while the eldest red-head, that one being Kushina herself, just gave her son a teary smile, which Naruto did his best to ignore, now cursing whoever God was up there for making his life such a mess with situations like these

If only he knew

Kakashi for his part just gave an eye-smile to the blonde and a wave of his hand, silently hoping to get an alone moment with the blonde in order to have a proper talk

It certainly looked for a moment that Kushina, just like with her youngest daughter, was about to jump and hug Naruto at any moment, the obvious wounds her son still had being the only thing that stopped her

It was then that she recognized the rest of the people in the room, and while she could understand why most of them were here, there was one person that made her eyes go wide in surprise

"You're the guy that was sitting with us in the stadium!" It was actually Natsumi the first one to recognize Zeref, making everyone's attention to go to the dark mage, especially Naruto's, who now had confused expression on his face, besides the obvious panic he had of course

The blonde was about to ask what the little hamster was talking about to his sensei, but a sudden smack on the back of his head stopped him on his track, courtesy of none other than Zeref himself, who was still sitting with his arms crossed over his chest, his movement to quickly for some of the people there to follow

It definitely looked like Naruto was about to complain, but a gesture form Zeref, which was bringing a finger to his lips, made the blonde go quite and just nod, although he did try to glare at his sensei, after all that last movement had actually hurt

Everyone in the room observed the scene with wide-eyes, completely shocked, or in Shizune's case confused, with the relationship between Naruto and the black-haired guy. They were, to put it simply, baffled, even Sasuki who knew Naruto better than the rest was left shocked

Those that knew Naruto could easily say that he was a person that was always on edge, even hiding his emotions from everyone just like certain Uchiha, but now the way the blonde was acting was surprising all of them. Who was this guy that could easily slap Naruto on the head and get nothing but a half-hearted glare from the blonde?

They would get their answer soon enough

Zeref simply stood from his chair and walked around the blonde's bed, his eyes the gazing at everyone in the room, including the young girl that was still clinging to Naruto's right arm

"Allow me to introduce myself once again…" the dark mage said, his voice calm and clear, hiding the storm that his next words were going to provoke

"My name is Zeref and I have been Naruto-kun's teacher for the past six years"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile_

Alcor was a man with a mission. Accomplishing his Master's orders were normally the thing that drove the white-haired man, but more than once it was his opinion on humans the one that controlled his actions

Don't get him wrong, Alcor would never disobey a direct order from the Shinigami, but if the man found a way to have his _fun_ with humans and accomplish the mission at the same time he would normally follow that path

Sadly it was that same decision the one that had brought his Master's ire over him just a couple of days ago

However Alcor was determined to get back on his Master's good grace, and for that he was more than ready to accomplish the new set of task that the Shinigami had gave him, which was why you could find the servant right now in one of the room of Konoha's main hospital, looking over the unconscious form of his next victim

Looking down at Menma, Alcor couldn't help but to remember his original task, the one that his Lord had given him years ago.

The task had been an easy one. To not only watch over Zeref and make sure that the dark-haired man did his part of the deal, but also to make sure that one Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto was actually born, and for that Alcor had watched over his parents, Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato, every since both of them had met in Konoha

That had been part one of the plan, part two was a little bit more complicated, but in the end easy for the white-haired servant. Once that Naruto was born it was Alcor's task to make sure of a couple of things, which he had of course done

The first thing was to make sure that Naruto would easily not only become the apprentice of Zeref, but also to become loyal to the dark mage, who in change would be loyal to the Shinigami. For this to happen Alcor had done his best to make Naruto's childhood as miserable as possible, something that he actually felt quite proud about, not because he enjoyed making Naruto suffer, but simply because of how much of a good job he had done

He hadn't bothered with Naruto's parents since his Lord had already deal with them, so he had focused in everyone else around Naruto's life

Alcor ability was focused on the manipulation of the human's mind. He could play with the mind of humans to the point in which he could make people do things they would never think of doing, he could make them act in ways that they would hate, and he could even play with their memories, although he rarely used that last skill

The best thing was that nobody knew they were being affected by him. His ability to manipulate humans was only matched by his ability to hide himself away from them, making him the perfect person for a mission like this one

First it had been Naruto's godparents, who actually had been quite easy to manipulate. With Jiraiya he had simply made the man quite obsessed with that stupid prophecy of his and the rest was story. Tsunade had been a little bit more trickery, but after a little bit of trial and error he had made an illusion over the woman's subconscious, basically making her think of her dead brother and lover every time she saw young Naruto

Maybe a stronger person would have been able to surpass that, or even just ignore it, but Alcor knew humans, and Senju Tsunade was not a strong woman. She was still hanging up on her past and he had played with that nicely. He guessed that the fact that Tsunade was also rather distant with Menma himself was a secondary product of his meddling, but he honestly didn't care

Then came Naruto's siblings, oh and how _fun_ he had when dealing with them! Mito had been another complicated one, after all the girl had been rather close to Naruto, but another original idea had made it for Alcor to accomplish his task easily, and it was all thanks to the Kyubi

The fox might had been the one that gave Mito the idea, but it had been Alcor the one that had me sure she would follow it by truly making her believe it would be for the benefit of Naruto. The Kyubi was after all a predictable beast, so Alcor had no problem anticipating the stuff the fox tried to do. Heck he had even done it again a couple of weeks ago, and Alcor had been more than happy to repeat his manipulation over the red-head, although this time the Kyubi's target was the relationship between Mito and that Uchiha girl, Sasuki.

Menma had to be the easiest of them all. He had simply played with the rivalry that Menma by himself had created with Naruto when they were young by making the blonde truly threatened by Naruto to the point of having a grudge.

Then he had actually presented himself in front of Menma and had actually lied to the blonde by telling him that he had been sent by a God in order to stop a catastrophe from impacting the Elemental Nations. He had told Menma that Naruto would grow to become a criminal that would never stop until the whole world was on his feet

Of course the ever so gullible Menma had soaked every word that he had told him, especially since he also told him that he was the only one that could stop Naruto, but that he would have to wait for the right time, which Alcor would signal him

In retrospective the white-haired man really shouldn't have showed himself in front of Menma, after all it was against the rules for a servant to simply appear in front of humans, but Alcor had left his playful side to take a hold of him, something that he now regrets

He hadn't even bothered with Natsumi, after all his Lord _had_ warned him about messing with the little girl. Again in retrospective he shouldn't have ignored that order

The rest of the associates of the family, like that guy Kakashi, had been also easy targets by just making them also focus on Naruto's two siblings, and later in young Natsumi, but Alcor knew that just keeping Naruto isolated would not be enough, so he had gone one step further in order to make sure that Naruto would follow them easily

After all what his Master wanted was a weapon that would not only stop Yami, but would also be nothing but loyal to him

And how he had done that? By turning some of the villagers against Naruto. Of course after the Kyubi attack there were plenty of people in the village that were affected either by fear towards the fox or hate, and for Alcor it had been easy to play with those emotions and redirect them towards Naruto of all people

Of course Alcor had never allowed for the beatings to get extremely far, although more than once it had been Zeref himself the one that had stopped the people that were hurting Naruto.

The only inconvenient was that Alcor's manipulations were hardly permanent, and needed of the white-haired man to re-apply them periodically. It was for that reason that he hardly found himself with free time during the past years.

The final product had been perfect in Alcor's opinion, after all Naruto had been a young lonely and broken boy that would gladly accept anyone who offered even a little bit of kindness on his way, which was where Zeref entered and made himself the boy's teacher

Sadly Zeref wasn't just a puppet. The black-haired man was supposed to be loyal to the Shinigami, which would of course make Naruto indirectly loyal to the God, but the dark mage just didn't want to play his part on the game! The damn mage would even go out of his way to make Naruto _not_ to trust him!

Alcor was perfectly sure that if it wasn't because of the seal the dark mage had he would have rebelled a long time ago

He didn't even want to imagine how Zeref would react if he were to now of Alcor's doings. Of course the white-haired man would never tell the dark mage about it, and he would rather _die_ than ever revealing anything to Naruto. Who knows how the blonde might react to knowing that his whole life had been a product of his own doing

Alcor ended up just releasing a chuckle. He was sure that with enough _discipline_ Zeref would be a lot more loyal, but his Lord had told him to leave him to his business as long as he accomplished his task as Naruto's teacher

Already more than ready to finally end his task Alcor's hand shinned blue, his red eyes looking over Menma with a dark glint. He would have done this yesterday but the stupid boy always had someone watching over him, and Alcor needed to focus on this completely in order to make it work

At least the boy's family had left in order to check on Naruto, and Alcor had already dealt with the ANBU that had been watching over the boy. He had also make sure that people wouldn't even notice this room, thus giving him the perfect moment to strike

With a quick movement Alcor's glowing hand quickly set itself over Menma's forehead, a look of concentration appearing on the servant's face. Just as luck would have it Menma's eyes shot wide open in shock, but before he could even do anything Alcor had put his other hand over his mouth

The blonde didn't know what was happening. He had just woken up out of the pain he had just felt on his head and now he found himself being held on his bed by Alcor of all people!

The blonde tried to move his body in order to pry Alcor of himself, but he found himself too weak to even do that. He still had to try though; after all he just _knew_ that if he didn't something bad was going to happen to him

"Shhhhh" Alcor muttered, and the blonde actually found himself calming, his eyes getting heavy and his body getting even weaker "Just go to sleep, Menma-kun, I promise you won't feel a thing"

Even though his brain was screaming at him to do something Menma just found himself closing his eyes, a sudden feeling that something was simply missing appearing on his heart being the last thing Menma felt before he fell unconscious once again

Alcor kept his hold over Menma for twenty more minutes, so focused on his task that even sweat started forming on his forehead. Finally the servant released the blonde before sighing tiredly, feeling more tired that he had ever felt while staying in this world

Playing with a person's memories was definitely a more complicated subject than the rest of Alcor's abilities. Not only it takes a lot of energy, but if you tried to change too many memories away or change them you could permanently damage the victim's brain

At least Menma didn't have a lot of memories about him, or else he could have ended putting the blonde in some sort of coma, which he knew would just _anger_ his Master

He guessed it would take a while for Menma to wake up now though, considering how he had basically just been mind-raped. He also wondered how Menma would act from now own; after all he hadn't changed his feelings, just his memories, so his hate towards Naruto would probably just become even more irrational than before

At least that's what Alcor guessed

He was just glad that Menma's memories of him weren't really that many, or else it would have taken a lot more of work for him to erase them from the jinchuriki's mind.

Alcor's ability to manipulate a person's mind, or at least when it came to erasing part of their memories, was not a perfect art either. The white-haired man couldn't really control the amount of memories that would get cut from his victim's brain. If he wanted to erase Menma's memories about a person then Menma would lose all of his memories of said person, not just a select few

Without giving the unconscious blonde another glance Alcor left the building in a blue flash, his job now done and more than ready to report to his Lord

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Nothing much happens on this chapter either, it mostly set stuff for the next few chapters. C'mon guys, I wouldn't just get rid of Natsumi just like that; give me some credit here (although I guess leaving the cliffhanger was kind of a dick move…)**

**There are two things I want to clarify here. First is that Alcor, and the new character introduced in this chapter Raidou Kuzunoha, are NOT OCs! They are characters from the Shin Megami Tensei franchise (with Alcor belonging to the "Devil Survivor" games and Raidou to the "Devil Summoner" ones). Of course their back-story and abilities have been changed for the purpose of the fic, do you don't really need to know them at all beforehand to enjoy the fic **

**The second thing is Alcor's abilities. To put it simple, in this fic he's not a fighter. Just like I explained in the chapter his abilities are better used for other stuff. In a fight he would be easily defeated by characters like Zeref, Acnologia, Minato, Madara, Itachi and plenty of other characters like the Sannins and multiple members of Akatsuki. Heck, I'm sure that there are plenty of Jonin that have a change of beating Alcor**

**For those that don't like Alcor then rejoice, he won't be appearing that much after this chapter since the next part with focus on Naruto's and Zeref's relationship with the village**

**In case you can't picture some of the characters I will soon update my profile page with some images and fan-arts of a few of them**

**Once again thank you all for your support. The fic has already surpassed the 2k mark in both follower and favorite, and the 1k mark in reviews. That is simply incredible! Thank you all**

**Next Chapter: Zeref's turn to play**


	24. Long Awaited Confrontations

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsus/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

**Chapter 22**

**Long Awaited Confrontations**

_Konoha's main hospital, Naruto's room._

No sounds could be heard from the people inside the room. They were simply left speechless by the shock of the revelation they had just heard, or in case of the eldest dark mage in the room he simply wanted to see how the other people would react.

Even Naruto's neutral expression had completely broken after hearing his sensei's reveal. Instead the blonde had a quite comical look that would have Natsumi cracking up laughing if she wasn't busy looking confusingly at Zeref.

Naruto's mouth was hanging open, his eyes opened in shock and looking directly at Zeref himself, and if one went to pay attention they would notice how his right eye was slightly twitching. His mind was a mess too of course, with different thoughts going in his head faster than ever before.

Naruto could still not process properly what Zeref just did. Here he was, thinking of ways of convince his sensei to allow him to tell the truth to Sasuki, just for him to come out of nowhere and tell not only Sasuki, but even the majority of the people he hated and one complete stranger, about the secret he had kept for the last six years.

The dragon slayer's mouth opened and close repeatedly in a vain attempt to utter something that resembled words, but the only thing that got out were weird sounds, basically making one hell of a fish interpretation.

The rest of the people that were in the room had similar expressions of shock, although for Shizune it was mostly confusion what showed on her face.

For Kushina it was a sudden sense of realization that followed her surprise, a lot of the questions that had plagued her head now being answered by the simple announcement of this man. She, just like her husband, of course knew that someone had trained their eldest son; it was after all plainly obvious considering his strength, and the fact that Orochimaru himself also believed that made the assumption even more valid than before.

That had given them a question though. Who was training their son? According to her husband there shouldn't be any person in Konoha that would do something like training Naruto without informing him of that fact.

There was also the fact that Naruto's set of skills were something that neither her of Minato had ever seen, so it really couldn't be one of Konoha's Shinobi, but then who?

This man that went by the name of Zeref apparently.

Just as it answered some questions it also made a lot more of them to appear in the former Jinchuriki's mind. How had he trained her son for so long without anyone realizing it? Who was this Zeref person exactly and _why_ was he training her sochi? He wasn't from Konoha, that was for sure, and she had never even heard of him! How close was he to her son anyway? They must be somewhat close if what he said about training for six years was true, and considering their little interaction just a few seconds later she was inclined to believe that.

Another thought entered her head, one that made her eyes open even wider and actually made her gave a step back. She had thought that it was nothing, but every time she had talked with Naruto he had talked and acted as if he had _another_ family. It was subtle, and she was sure he didn't even notice the things he had said, but it had struck her deep in her heart.

She had thought that it was nothing, after all what mother would want to believe that her son had replaced her and his family with someone else? But now it made sense, if this man had really spent that much time with Naruto then of course they would make a bond, but the fact that her son might actually believe this complete stranger was more of a family to him than his own flesh and blood made her remember once again just how broken the relationship between them actually was.

That single thought was almost enough to bring her to tears .

For the first time Kushina actually had doubts about her ability to fix her relationship with Naruto. Had he truly moved on? Did he truly hate them so much that this Zeref person was the one that he considered family? Was there really no way for her to mend her relationship with Naruto?

However as soon as those thoughts entered her mind she quickly dismissed them with a small shake of her head. That couldn't be, she could make thing right once again! There wasn't any reason for this man to get in the way of her relationship with her son! Even if they were close she _knew_ Naruto would never replace them.

She was glad that everyone's else attention was still on the black-haired man, or else they would had seen the internal turmoil that she just had.

Kakashi for his part found himself with conflicted emotions. For one part he was honestly glad that there had been someone for Naruto when he was young, but on the other hand he couldn't help but to not trust this man. His instincts were simply telling him that there was something off with Zeref. He didn't know _what_ exactly, but he just knew that there was a lot more behind this man than just a good soul that wanted to help a young boy.

Something dark.

"What?!" in the end it was Sasuki the one that actually broke the silence with a loud yell, her black eyes moving quickly from Naruto to Zeref and then back to her friend, almost as if her mind couldn't process what she had just heard.

Mito was having a similar reaction to her teammate, only that hers was a lot more subdued. Her eyes had widened at hearing Zeref's words but now they were narrowed at the black-haired man, the young red-head immediately having a bad feeling about him, the fact that her brother had known this man for six years already and kept that as a secret every since making the Jinchuriki more than a little worried.

Natsumi on the other hand was having a completely different reaction since she didn't know the real implications of what had just been said. Her head was tilted to the side while her eyes were set on Zeref, an expression of confusion evident on her face. Why had no one told her that Naruto-nii had a secret sensei?! She could have trained with them!

"Did I stutter?" Zeref said, his eyes easily taking every single detail from everyone's reaction. He wasn't surprised by the youngest ones, and he honestly couldn't care less about the silver-haired Jonin, but it was Kushina's reaction the one that decided his next course of action.

He needed to confirm his suspicion about Naruto's former family.

The disinterest in his voice and the way he didn't even look at her made Sasuki's right eye to twitch in annoyance, while her outburst finally got Naruto out of his shock-induced expression, however before the blonde even managed to get a word out Zeref moved away from the bed, his black eyes now locked to Kushina's violet ones.

"I think we need to talk" the dark mage said once he had reached the red-head. Kushina gave him another surprised expression that was quickly changed to a determinate one before she nodded; more than enough for Zeref to continue walking towards the door, knowing that Kushina, and apparently Kakashi too, were following him.

However once he reached the door he gave one last look to his apprentice, whose eyes quickly found his. There were no words shared but Naruto got the simple message,

Magic was still a secret between the two of them, and was not to be revealed by what it truly was.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Zeref._

The black-haired mage was walking through the halls of the hospital, not even bothering to look back knowing that both Kushina and Kakashi were following him with their attention completely focused on him.

Neither of the two Konoha-nins knew what to say right now. There were so many question on their mind, from Zeref's past and intentions to his relationship with Naruto. However not knowing how to approach the man they simply stayed quiet and wait for Zeref himself to make the first move.

It didn't take long for the trio to arrive to the roof of the hospital, which of course was deserted, with only a few clothes being hanged there.

Zeref finally turned around, his black eyes quickly focusing once again on Kushina's violet ones. She, alongside her husband, were the ones that had the mage's attention, so it was no surprise that he ignored Kakashi.

"I know you must have questions for me" the dark lord said, his arms crossed over his chest, his voice as monotonous as his current expressions "however for the sake of not having to repeat everything I believe it would be best if your husband were to accompany us" it was planted as a suggestion but both Kushina and Kakashi quickly understood that this man wouldn't talk without the Hokage present.

That didn't set well with Kakashi though. The silver-haired Jonin was about to complain, not wanting for someone he didn't know at all to make the rules of such an important conversation, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him from complaining. Said hand belonged to Kushina herself, whose eyes were still fixed on Zeref's own, an expression of determination set on her face.

"Kakashi-kun" the red-head spoke, her voice being strong and commanding, a tone she rarely used but that she felt was necessary when dealing with Zeref "Please tell Minato-kun that we have an important guest that needs his attention"

It was obvious that Kakashi wanted to refute her order, but look from the woman quickly drowned any complain he had, a chill going down his spine at just how fierce her look was, something that Kakashi hadn't see in while.

Sure his respect for her might have practically vanished, but that didn't mean he wasn't still afraid of the rage of one Uzumaki Kushina.

Kakashi left just after giving Zeref one last look, leaving both dark lord and former Jinchuriki alone, both of their eyes set firmly on the other one, almost as if studying their every move.

There was a difference though. While for Kushina it was truly hard to read Zeref, for the dark mage it was quite easy to do so, just like before when he had detected Kushina's turmoil as soon as he had introduced himself.

Both individuals stood there in silence, Kushina trying to think of something to ask while Zeref simply had no intentions of talking yet. However it was after a few seconds that the dark haired man finally took his eyes away from Kushina's and focused on the blue sky, his eyes half-lidded.

"Tell me something, Uzumaki-san" Zeref spoke, surprising Kushina quite a bit since she didn't expect for him to say anything right now "What would you consider the greatest treasure a person can have? Is it wealth, power or maybe even eternal life? Or maybe there is something more out there…"

His words confused Kushina even more. She didn't know what Zeref was trying to get with that question, but she couldn't help but to think about it. For her though the answer was obvious for her from the start.

"Its family" the red-head said with conviction, making Zeref look at her with a raised eyebrow "the greatest treasure anyone can have is a family" she didn't say anything else, almost as if she didn't need to explain anything else.

And she was right. She didn't need to explain anything else to Zeref; after all he was a person that would sacrifice everything, his power, his immortality, even his own soul just for a chance to see the only family he had once again.

The brother he had forsaken.

"I see we both think alike then" Zeref answered, earning an understanding nod from Kushina, who almost smiled a little bit at seeing that this person shared her views, but his next words stopped her on her tracks.

"Sadly even though they are our treasure we sometimes forget how important they are to us" Zeref spoke softly, knowing how his words were affecting the woman in front of him "And before we even realize we had lost that family forever… and we have no one to blame but ourselves"

For her part Kushina's eyes were wide open, her hands trembling. Zeref's words had struck deeply into her because of her current situation with her son. Why was he saying these things to her? Did he know how those words could affect her?

In retrospective it was the most logical conclusion, after all if this man had really trained her son for the past six years then he _must_ know the situation between Naruto and his family. How much did he know? What had Naruto told him?!

Then a sudden idea entered the former Jinchuriki's head, a ray of hope finally shining in her heart. Maybe this man was the answer! Maybe he could help her earn Naruto's forgiveness! She knew it was a desperate gamble, after all she knew nothing of this man, but she was truly getting out of options. She was willing to do anything to fix this, and if Zeref was the answer to her problem then she would gladly even beg him for help.

However before the red-head got even a chance to speak a gust of wind and leaf just besides her announced the arrival of another person via _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_. This individual ended up being none other than Jiraiya, who gave Kushina a small smile while instantly giving Zeref a calculative look that people would normally found weird in the normally laid-back Sannin.

"So this is the guy, huh?" Jiraiya whispered to Kushina, earning a nod from her. The white-haired man easily noticed how shaken up the woman looked like, his gaze becoming even colder towards Zeref.

For a little moment there Kushina felt like hitting Jiraiya for the sole purpose of his bad timing, but she quickly calmed herself, knowing that it would be best if she got the help of her husband if she was to try and convince this man of helping her with Naruto.

"Kakashi already explained the basics to me and Minato. He's waiting for you both" the toad summoner spoke to both Kushina and Zeref, earning nods from both of them.

"Let's go then, no reason to keep wasting time here" Jiraiya continued, signaling for Zeref to grab his arm. The black-haired man said nothing back and just approached the Sannin, his right hand grasping his shoulder.

Then in another _**Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_ made by Jiraiya both him and Zeref disappeared, Kushina quickly following them with her own technique, none of them knowing that certain blonde dragon slayer had now entered an even harder battle.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile with Naruto._

The young mage was looking directly at the famous red eyes known as the Sharingan, courtesy of none other than of his best friend, Uchiha Sasuki.

On the outside the blonde looked quite calm, but for the first time since he had met her Naruto actually felt a little bit _afraid_ of the black-haired girl. Then again he wasn't normally on the receiving end of this kind of looks!

It wasn't the normal angry glare that he ussually got when he made her angry or anything like that. No, this one was, to put it simpler, cold. An icy stare that could froze even hell itself. The fact that her Sharingan was activated, the black tomoes spinning lazily, just made the glare even more effective.

Naruto didn't break eye-contact though. He knew Sasuki so doing that would a big mistake. Right now he could only hope to be able to calm his friend soon or else he might really get in trouble. He would like to believe that Sasuki wouldn't attack him while he was bedridden, but he preferred to play it safe for now.

The two members of Team 7 were left alone in the room. The first one to go had been Shizune, who had been called for an emergency. Of course she left with some words for Sasuki who still refused to return to her room, but those words ended up falling in deft hears.

After that it had been obvious for Naruto that he couldn't dodge Sasuki's questions anymore, and he was more than ready to answer them as best as he could.

The other two people that had been there, namely Mito and Natsumi, had been a little bit more complicated. Natsumi really didn't want to go, saying that she wanted to stay with him all day. It hadn't be easy but in the end Naruto managed to make her leave for a while after promising her that he would take her to eat ramen as soon as he got out.

He already felt his wallet becoming a lot lighter.

Mito on the other hand had been insanely stubborn, obviously not wanting to leave the two of them alone and also wanting answers about Zeref. It had become obvious for Naruto that something bad had happened between both Sasuki and Mito, but what he didn't know.

He had remembered Mito that they still had to talk, but that right now he needed to sort some things out. The red-head had looked reluctant to leave, but she did in the end, obviously not wanting to upset her brother anymore than he already was.

Then came the part of actually explaining everything to Sasuki. He had done so slowly, starting from since he met Zeref until the present, going from the things that the man had taught him to speaking about the man itself.

Of course Naruto _had_ to change a lot of things. Just like before he had told Sasuki that him and Zeref normally trained in the Forest of Death. He had also explained that the techniques he knew were from an old clan that his sensei had been a part of years ago.

He had also told her about why he hadn't explained all of this to her before, saying that Zeref had made him promise that he would keep it as a secret and that he would rather die than breaking the man's trust. This had seemed to actually shock Sasuki quite a lot since it had been the only time in the whole conversations in which Sasuki had showed another expression, namely shock, besides her cold stare.

The young Uchiha had stayed silent during her friend's explanation, not even nodding, just listening. In fact besides that short moment of shock she hadn't made any kind of movement, which kind of worried Naruto.

And now that the blonde had ended his tale he was simply waiting for Sasuki to say something. In all honestly the silence, accompanied by the cold Sharingan improved glare, made Naruto quite nervous.

It was in moments like this that he wished to be a fire dragon slayer.

"I see…" Sasuki finally said, making Naruto a little bit more worried, after all such a calmed reaction from her was certainly not what he was expecting.

"So you met a complete stranger that offered you some training six years ago and kept it as a secret all this time from _everyone_ because he told you too" the Uchiha continued, gaining a hesitant nod from the blonde, who was now really wondering if maybe the old Sasuki that would explode in rage had disappeared.

"Are you an idiot?!" but as soon as that thought appeared it was washed away by the infuriated roar that Sasuki just made, which actually managed to catch Naruto off-guard.

The next thing Naruto knew his shirt was being grabbed by Sasuki, their faces just a few inches apart from each other, his friend showing nothing but an angry expression with her Sharingan still on while he did his best to stay calm knowing that she wasn't done yet.

"How could you trust a complete estranger like that?! He could have been a spy or even a fucking assassin sent to get you! How could you have been so stupid?!" Sasuki continued her rant, and Naruto was sure than her yelling could probably be heard outside the room.

For his part the blonde was already used for Sasuki's brash behavior, but he certainly didn't like the fact that she was so against the decision he made years ago. Sure, he understood from where she was coming from, but he still considered his decision of accepting Zeref's proposal to be the best thing that had ever happened to him.

"Sasuki" Naruto spoke, stopping Sasuki mid rant, although she still looked extremely pissed. He took her hands in order to get free of her grip before speaking "I don't regret accepting sensei's proposal. I wanted to be strong and he gave me the chance. I trust him with my life, and I owe him more than I will ever be able to repay him"

Instead of calming Sasuki down those words just made her go from beyond mad to worried, a frown now appearing on her face. This was a side of her friend that she had never seen before. To hear him speak so highly about _anyone_ was certainly a new experience.

If she was to be honest Sasuki felt really worried. It was one thing to be grateful but Naruto's word made her question his relationship with this Zeref guy. It was now obvious that it wasn't a normal student-teacher relationship but something stronger, at least from Naruto's part, and that bothered her a lot. She didn't know why, but she just had a really bad feeling about this whole situation.

Or to be more precise about Zeref himself.

"But why?!" the Uchiha spoke, her voice less angry but still showing her displeasure "I just don't get it. What made you accept such a thing from someone who you didn't know at all! He wasn't even from the village!" Of course she understood wanting of power, to get as strong as you could, but even so did her friend really wanted power so much for him to had accepted it from the first person that had offered to him?

"Because I didn't have other choices" Naruto didn't want to get to deep in his past, but he knew that if he didn't give her some answers it might damage their friendship and that was definitely something he didn't want.

"You didn't have other choices?!" Sasuki started "your dad is the fricking Hokage! Your mom is an S-ranked Kunoichi! You even had access to two Sannins! So what are you…!"

Sasuki's voice died in her throat as soon as she saw the change of demeanor in her friend. Not only she saw him tense with her words, but the look Naruto gave her was colder than she had even seen on him.

Of course Sasuki knew that Naruto's relationship with his family wasn't the best, but she still didn't understand just how bad it actually was. In her head there wasn't a chance that Naruto's family could have possibly screw up _that_ badly for Naruto to have chosen a complete stranger for training rather than them.

Naruto's eyes were making her reconsider that notion though.

"I didn't" even his voice was cold, so much that it made her shiver. She had never seen her friend like this, and she didn't like it one bit "I wanted to prove that I was worth something, and Zeref was the only one that game the chance… He was the only one I had"

"Naruto…" Sasuki spoke, any evidence of her previous rage now gone, replaced by an expression of concern. The blonde took his eyes away from her and just looked at the wall in front of him, his eyes still as cold as they could get. The Uchiha simply put a hand on her friend's shoulder; however it looked like the blonde was now deep in thought since he didn't react at all at her gesture.

"Please talk to me…" Sasuki's voice sounded almost as if she was begging, and honestly it wasn't that much off the mark. Of course she was happy that Naruto had explained some stuff to her but she knew there was a lot more that he was still hiding, and she was tired of that. Why couldn't he tell her? She wanted to understand! She wanted to help him!

Naruto's mind was a mess right now. Memories of his past were once again bombarding his head, memories that he would really like to forget, but that Sasuki's question had brought back. A part of him couldn't help but to be upset at her for that. Couldn't she stop asking such a thing? He already told her about Zeref and his training so why did she need to learn more.

He was tired of remembering that past. Even today it made him feel weak. It made him feel useless and he hated that. He didn't want to talk about it, let alone discuss it with Sasuki of all people.

The blonde was about to snap at the Uchiha, but the look she gave him made him stop on his tracks. He could clearly see it in her eyes, the worry she had for him. He couldn't really remember ever seeing her like this. Angry? Sure, at least twice a day. Worried? Weird but not that rare, but the look she was giving him was a lot more powerful than any other.

It made him doubt. Maybe telling her wouldn't be so bad? She was his friend, wasn't she? It would certainly make her understand why he chose to accept Zeref's proposal, but how would she see him after that? The last thing Naruto wanted from _anyone_ was pity. He didn't need that, it honestly just made him feel even weaker.

Would she change her way of viewing him? Would she start thinking that he was weak because of how he was treated when he was a child? Irrational fears started too crept into the blonde's head, but a sudden deep voice that was all too familiar resounded in his head, relaxing him.

'**You don't have to face everything alone little fishcake. Let the girl help you and I promise you won't regret it'**

For some reason that he couldn't understand Naruto found himself more calm after hearing that voice, instead or worried or alarmed about the fact that he was hearing voices in his head. He knew he would have to talk to his sensei about it, but once again he found himself trusting this voice, almost as if he knew that it wanted nothing but to help him.

Naruto closed his eyes before sighing tiredly. When he opened his eyes he looked straight at Sasuki, his eyes no longer cold but simply tired, while Sasuki kept her frown of concern, patiently waiting for Naruto to say something.

"Do you really want to know?" the blonde spoke softly, the gaze in his eyes making him look a lot older than he really was. Sasuki gave him a definitive nod, to which Naruto simply nodded before signaling for her to sit, knowing that his tale might take a while.

And with another sigh he started telling her everything that he had hidden from her that he hadn't told her already. From the neglect by his former family to how some of the people in the village saw him. It wasn't easy as telling her brought back so many memories that he wanted to keep locked away, which made him stop his story from time to time to recover his breath.

He wasn't even able to keep the mask of calmness that he usually wore. Instead Sasuki saw upfront the raw fury that her friend had towards not only those that he had once called family, but towards a specific part of Konoha too.

She could have even sworn that his eyes had turned yellow for a moment, but she dismissed it as a trick of lights.

Sasuki simply stood silent during his whole explanation, her face surprisingly showing nothing of what she thought.

Then it came to what honestly was the hardest part for Naruto, which he honestly really didn't felt like sharing, but more words from the same voice in his mind was all that it was needed for Naruto to finally tell someone himself about that part of his life.

Of course the blonde doubted he would ever tell anyone else, not even his sensei. While he knew that Zeref was already aware of that Naruto just didn't want to talk about it with him, he didn't want for his sensei to think that he was weak.

But with Sasuki it was different. With his sensei he was afraid of disappointing him, he was afraid of letting him down, of failing him, but with Sasuki it was different. He couldn't really express it, but he felt more at ease with her, almost as if the only thing he needed to not disappoint her was being himself

Naruto finally finishes his story, his eyes now looking at the window at the side of the room, not daring to match Sasuki's stare. His fears were resurging. He didn't know how she would react and a part of him couldn't help but to think of the worst possible scenario.

However those thoughts were quickly vanished from his head by Sasuki's next action.

She hugged him.

The blonde's eyes opened wide in shock, definitely not expecting this to be her reaction. Sasuki had thrown her arms around his neck and had hugged him even faster that he had been able to react.

And now he had no idea what to do. He wasn't used to this, he definitely wasn't. Zeref was definitely not a person to show affection, in fact besides that one time he had hugged the dark mage he couldn't remember any other moment in which they had shared something like that.

So shows of physical affection were definitely not Naruto's strong point, and coming from Sasuki it was even more shocking. He would have never thought of her being capable of just hugging him like that.

The blonde could better describe it as weird. At first he had tensed immediately at her actions but he quickly found himself relaxing, actually enjoying the closeness with his first friend.

It was then that he noticed that she was shaking, and he was about to ask what was wrong but she beat him to the punch.

"Those bastards…" the girl whispered, pure venom dripping from her every word "How dare they? How could they?!"The Uchiha's voice was becoming increasingly higher so Naruto tried to calm her, his right arm moving in order to return the hug.

"Sasuki its ok…." However his words made the Uchiha to break the hug suddenly, her hands still griping his shoulders tightly, allowing for Naruto to look at her eyes. He could clearly see the fury that the girl had, but he was also able to see both the worry she had and the shock she was feeling.

"Ok? Ok?! It's not fucking ok you idiot!" the girl practically screamed at him "How could they have done something like that to you?! It's not 'ok'!"

Sasuki was doing her best to wrap her head around the childhood of her blonde friend. She just didn't know what made her even more sick and angry, if his family or the bastards that actually dared to attack him when he was young.

Sasuki had never truly hated anyone before on her life. Sure she disliked a lot of people, in fact she disliked practically half of her current team, but to actually despise and hate someone so much that you wanted to see them death? Never on her life.

Until now that is.

"I will kill them" Sasuki declared, her expression suddenly turning as cold as it could get, actually surprising Naruto quite a lot "They can't just get away with this… I won't let them"

Naruto wasn't sure about who exactly Sasuki was talking about, but he didn't care, the last thing he wanted was for her to do something stupid that she would later regret just because of him. He would hate himself if she did.

"Sasuki please" the blonde put a hand on her shoulder, easily feeling how the girl was still shaking in rage "I just… want to forget about all of it"

Sasuki just looked at him confused, almost as if he couldn't believe what he was saying. She then shook her head before looking directly at Naruto's with a powerful stare.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" the girl asked in a firm voice, and Naruto knew he couldn't escape this question. Of course Sasuki still wanted to do something about the situation, after all _no one_ hurt someone that she cared about and got out without punishment, and she just knew who the bitch was that would pay first.

"I was just… scared" Naruto answered softly, his eyes looking at the window since he wasn't able to look at Sasuki to her eyes. He didn't like admitting this, but he knew that he had too "I didn't want you to look at me differently… I didn't want you to think I'm weak"

Since he wasn't looking straight at Sasuki he wasn't able to avoid the karate chop she gave him straight to the head, which actually packed quite the force. The blonde rubbed his head with his right hand while looking straight at Sasuki, who was giving him a deadpanned expression.

"You really _are_ an idiot, aren't you?" the Uchiha declared with a shake of her head and a sigh. It was hard to believe that Naruto had so many insecurities, but then again after what he had told her she guessed that it would be weirder if he hadn't.

Still did he really believe she would see him different? He was still her friend, that wouldn't change. In fact she probably admired the blonde even more now.

"You're going to need more than a sad story to get rid of me you baka" Sasuki continued with a smirk directed at the mage in front of her. She certainly didn't expect Naruto's answer though.

"I would never get rid of you Sasuki" the mage said with a serious face, wanting to make something very clear "You're too important for me to ever do that"

It was true, not only had he told her things no one else knew but she also had accepted him even besides all of those things. Sasuki had banished the multiple doubts that had always plagued his mind whenever telling her the truth came as a subject. She wouldn't abandon him or betray him, and for that he was truly grateful.

No, he was on her debt, and he would do anything on her power to pay her back. He would protect her with his very life if he had to. That he swore.

For her part Sasuki, not expecting for Naruto to say something like that, blushed heavily by his words, red adorning her face. She quickly grabbed his shirt once again and started swaying him back and forth.

"D-don't go around saying stuff like that you baka!" the Uchiha said, not giving the blonde a moment to defend himself, a blush still adorning her cheeks.

They were so focused on each other that they didn't hear the door opening or the person that was watching them until said person spoke with a voice that Sasuki easily recognized.

"Oh my" a feminine voice said from the door, stopping Sasuki and making both Genins to look at who had talked, which made Sasuki's eyes go wide and Naruto to simply blink in confusion "I hope I'm not interrupting anything".

"Okaa-sama!" Sasuki sputtered, her eyes wide in surprise at seeing her mother here "What are you doing here?!"

"Well Shizune-san was kind enough to point me to where you were" the Uchiha matriarch said with a smile, her eyes going from her daughter to the blonde in the room "Although it looks like I might have gotten here in a bad time. I hope I'm not interrupting your little bonding moment"

The reaction Mikoto got was just the one she expected for teasing her daughter, which of course was to see her blushing madly and practically jumping away from the bed she had been sitting on and of course from the blonde that she had been holding until now.

"We're not! I mean, it wasn't like that! Were just talking!" the younger Uchiha tried to come with an excuse, knowing just how much of a pain could be if her mother kept teasing her about her relationship with Naruto.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mikoto-san" contrary to his friend Naruto was able to keep perfect calm in this situation, although it would be more precise to say that he just didn't see any reason to get so nervous like Sasuki. It wasn't like they were doing anything wrong anyway

"Please Naruto-kun just Mikoto is fine" she answered back with a smile, getting a nod from the mage "I'm happy to meet the young man that my daughter can't stop talking about"

"Okaa-sama!" Naruto honestly thought that if Sasuki got any redder she would probably start puffing steam out of her ears.

For her part Mikoto simply released a quite laugh. Teasing her daughter was always a source of fun for the matriarch, especially if the subject was about certain blonde Genin.

Things calmed down a little bit after that, with Mikoto simply asking Naruto about his condition and more small talk that of course included things that made Sasuki blush in embarrassment more than once.

Finally both Uchihas had to leave, with Mikoto telling her daughter that not only she needed to get back to her room in order to get checked by the doctor but that Naruto also needed to rest since his injuries were a lot more serious than hers. The younger girl looked reluctant to leave but in the end she accepted, knowing that her mother was right.

Mikoto did leave one last thing for Naruto to think about. She had invited the blonde to her house for dinner as soon as he got out of the hospital, saying that not only it was her way of paying him for taking care of her daughter but also a way to get to know him more since not only he was Sasuki's friend but also her teammate and the son of an old friend of hers.

The blonde was surprised at first by the sudden invitation but he ended up accepting, not seeing any reason not to. Sasuki of course had no objections, although she tried to act as if she didn't care at all.

"Sasuki" the blonde called out just before the black-eyed girl left. Said girl turned around and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, wondering what he wanted.

"Thank you…" that was the only thing the blonde said, but in his face was something that Sasuki had barely seen on him. A real smile appeared on his lips, it was small but completely genuine, something that just a few had seen.

"No problem" the girl replied back with a smile of his own before closing the door and returning to her room, leaving the blonde alone for the time being, both of their minds still being in the conversation they just had.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile in the Hokage's office._

Zeref was a man that was used to distrust, which considering his reputation back in his original world it wasn't surprising at all. Then again it wasn't like he was really used to it, it was more like he simply didn't care about the fact that people didn't trust him at all.

And right now the dark lord was once again in a situation in which people simply didn't trust him.

This situation was basically the stand-off between him and what he considered the key members of the Uzumaki-Namikaze clan. Them of course being the parents of his apprentice, Minato and Kushina, Jiraiya of the Sannin and Hatake Kakashi.

Zeref simply sat there in front of the Hokage's desk, while the rest of the people in the room stood behind said desk, with Minato in the middle, Kushina just on his right, Kakashi on his left and Jiraiya on the right side of the room, all of their eyes looking with a stare that would make most people to tremble.

He wasn't most people though.

"You have a nice office, Hokage-san" Zeref commented while looking around the office with fake interest. Of course he couldn't care less about this place, but he wanted for the people in front of him to act first.

Unlike Kushina, Jiraiya and Kakashi, who were practically open books for the mage, Namikaze Minato was one that Zeref couldn't actually read that easily. Not only that but Zeref new that Minato was considered one if not the strongest Shinobi alive, and considering what he knew of the man it wasn't surprising.

In the end for what Zeref knew Minato's fame came from his signature technique, the _**Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)**_, a space-time technique that could basically teleport the user. Such a technique had honestly intrigued Zeref, after all while he knew a bit about the manipulation of time and space he had never truly become a master of it.

He knew though just how powerful someone that could control something like that was, and combining that with the fact that he had watched Minato in action had made Zeref understand why Minato was so respected and feared in this world.

That power wouldn't scare him though. Even with his _**Ankuseramu no Kuro Majutsu (Ankhseram Black Magic)**_ sealed away by the Shinigami the dark mage was still confident in his power. It might be a close fight, but Zeref was still confident in his victory.

Now if he had his full power the man in front of him wouldn't even be able to touch him.

"Thank you" Minato finally answered, his voice lacking any kind of emotions and his blue eyes looking at Zeref with a calculative gaze.

"So your name is Zeref, correct?" this time it was Jiraiya the one that spoke, making the dark mage to look at him briefly before setting his eyes in the blonde Hokage. Of course everyone in this room knew of his name since Kakashi already told them.

"It is" Zeref answered simply, getting a raised eyebrow from Minato.

"No last name?" it sounded like an innocent question but it was an obvious way to get information from Minato's part.

"None that I can declare proudly" Zeref answered, an image of his brother appearing on his mind for just a second before disappearing. No, he was definitely not worth it of having the same last name as him.

The room was once again left in silence for a few seconds, which made Zeref to shake his head slightly. It looked like he would have to speed up this meeting. Not that he had any problem with being patience when it came to get information out of people, but right now he had better things to do.

"I have a suggestion, Hokage-san" Zeref said, making Minato's eyes to narrow alongside Jiraiya and Kakashi's, while Kushina just frowned in confusion "I'm sure you must have questions which I'm willing to answer if you answer some of my own... I think it's a fare deal"

Minato considered the words of the black-haired man, still not knowing if to treat him as an ally or an enemy. If what he had said was true then he had been the one to train his son since he was young and for that Minato was both thankful and concerned. Thankful because at least someone had helped his son, even though that just made him even worse of a father, and concerned because of the strength this man could have, after all if Naruto was already this strong then how much power did this guy posses?

There was also the fact that this guy had trained his son, probably inside the village, without anyone noticing it for at least a few years. Who was this guy loyal too? Was he a spy from another village? A wandering man that had just decided to train his son? The lack of information right now was making Minato go mad, but he knew he couldn't lose his cool. He also needed to take control of the conversation in order to gain as much information as he could of this man.

"If you expect me to share intel about my village to you…" Minato said, wanting to make clear that he wouldn't betray his village like that.

"Of course not" Zeref answered swiftly "the things I want to know are more of a personal type of thing, after all Naruto-kun has told me plenty of things about his family that I would like to confirm" that just made everyone to frown in confusion.

Minato just gave his sensei a side-look, to which the white-haired man just responded with a shrug, basically telling him that it was his decision. Then the blonde looked at his wife, whose eyes were practically demanding him to get some answer. He ended up just giving her a nod before looking at Zeref once again.

"Very well" Zeref spoke before Minato got the chance, already knowing that the Hokage wanted "what do you wish to know exactly?"

"Everything" was the only thing that Minato said, which simply got a nod from Zeref is response just before the black-haired man started telling them the story he had made up a while ago.

"I am simply what you could call a nomad, the last member of a forgotten clan that was wiped out a long time ago. I have no alliance with any organization or village, and the only thing I really care for is to make sure that the teachings of my clan don't die with me, even if I'm the last member" Zeref started, however he was quickly interrupted by Jiraiya, who moved from his place to stand closer to Zeref.

"A destroyed clan? You don't look like anyone from any clan that fits that description" Jiraiya stated, trying to get more details from the mysterious man, also believing that if they went by looks alone the man looked more like an Uchiha than any other type of clan,

"My clan is an old one, destroyed long before we were even born during the first Shinobi World War. A few of its members managed to escape though, and make sure that the teachings of the clan were passed through the generations to come. Sadly the numbers had dwindled even more, to the point that I'm the only one that still holds any real blood relation to the original members of my clan" Zeref answered easily, more than ready to lie his way through this little meeting.

"And what was the name of your clan?" Kushina asked, thinking of how both this man and herself belonged to clans that no longer existed.

"Ankhseram" Zeref responded, using an old name that would forever haunt him. It felt appropriate for him.

"This is the first time I have heard of such a clan" Minato commented before giving Jiraiya a look that made the man to shake his head, making him know that he didn't know anything about s clan with that name.

"I'm not surprised; my clan was a small one that never joined any village. We always did our best to be away from the conflicts of the world" Zeref answered before continuing his story since no one else asked anything.

"Like I said before my objective was to simply teach the ways of my clan to someone else that could continue our legacy, but since I was the last one of it I was forced to find an apprentice. I would have honestly preferred to teach someone that shared my blood but I couldn't afford such a luxury. For a while I thought I wouldn't find anyone worth of my clan's teachings but I was finnaly able to find someone six years ago"

"Naruto-kun…" Kushina murmured, earning a simple nod from Zeref who was watching closely the reaction to both Minato and Kushina.

"To simply decide to train the Hokage's son without even talking to the boy's guardians…" Jiraiya said with an edge to his voice, still not trusting Zeref "What were you thinking?"

"That was a simple mistake of my part" Zeref stated, knowing what his next words would cause "Considering how Naruto-kun acted towards me you can't blame for thinking the boy was a simple orphan…"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Minato's voice was so cold that it actually made Zeref to raise an eyebrow; however his response came in the same monotonous tone of voice he had been using so far

"Let's just say that it took me a while to make him stop calling me 'Otou-san' all the time. It didn't bother me that much, but having someone calling me that just wasn't of my liking" the mage said, lying about how Naruto used to call him, after all his apprentice has always called him sensei. However his lie had the effect he had intended for it, which was getting some sort of reaction from the two heads of the Uzumaki-Namikaze clan

He easily saw how Minato tensed, his eyes going wide in shock and his former stoic appearance crumbling at Zeref's words. Kushina for her part simply released a gasp, one of her hands covering her mouth while the other one quickly went to her husband's shoulder.

"Anyway" Zeref continued after seeing the glare Jiraiya threw at his way and the not so subtle look Kakashi was also giving him "I trained Naruto-kun every since he was 9. I made him promise to never reveal my identity to anyone and to hide his skills until I was sure he wouldn't miss use them, which is why I allow him to go all out in the Chunin Exams"

"Where did you train?" this time it was Kakashi who spoke while Minato was trying his best to look composed, and while he did a good job Zeref could easily see the sadness in the blonde's eyes.

"The Forest of Death" now that did made everyone's eyes to go wide in shock, and while it looked like everyone wanted to say something it was Kushina the one that spoke first.

"What?!" the red-head yelled, allowing for Zeref to see her angry expression for the first time "How could you?! Don't you know how dangerous that place is! He could've died!" Zeref's words just made Kushina remember that incident in which Naruto had told them that he had trained in that place, and with Zeref's words it looked like it had been true.

"The boy is fine, isn't him? I wouldn't have made him do anything he couldn't handle or wanted to do" once again Zeref was quick to answer, not an expression showing on his face, even though everyone was practically glaring at him "Besides I really don't think you are in any position to judge me, Kushina-san"

"What the hell do you mean by that?!" Minato spoke with obvious anger on his voice. Not only had this guy put his son in unnecessary danger but he definitely didn't like the way he had just spoken to his wife.

"That from everyone in this room I am the only that Naruto-kun doesn't really hate" Zeref's voice was cold and decisive, his statement shocking everyone, but before they could even speak the black-haired man leaned closely to the desk in front of him, his eyes looking directly at Minato's blue ones "I think it's time for you to answer my question, Hokage-san. Please explain to me how disastrous of a parent you and your wife can be to be able to neglect Naruto-kun to the point of not only despising you more than anything but to also curse your whole family?"

If before they had been surprised now everyone had been left frozen in sheer shock. They had expected a lot of things from this conversation, but for this person to confront them and say something like that out of nowhere had not been planned at all.

Zeref for his part simply paid close attention to both Kushina and Minato, his eyes never leaving them. Zeref knew that what he had just done was kind of risky, after all he had probably just made an enemy out of everyone in this room, but he honestly didn't care. He could have played it slow and getting the information he wanted without confronting them directly, but he didn't really have the time. He had to move his plan forwards but before that he just wanted to confirm his last doubt.

And if he was right then he and Alcor were going to have s very _special_ conversation.

What happened next was something that Zeref both expected and surprised him. From one part he knew how emotional humans could be, but he honestly thought that people like Minato were better at controlling their emotions.

Zeref had easily seen the pain in Kushina's eyes just before Minato moved faster than Zeref thought him capable, especially considering that he had been sitting just a second ago with a desk between them, and grabbed him by the collar of his clothes before lifting him, both mage and Hokage ending up face to face, with Zeref having an indifferent look while Minato showed nothing but rage.

"I don't understand why you're so upset…" Zeref actually kept talking, not the least unnerved by his current position "It's not like I'm judging you or anything, I'm simply curious about how you could show so much love to your children and yet completely ignore one of them at the same time…"

The dark mage had to give credit to the man in front of him though, he honestly expected at least a punch by now, but Minato simply glared in fury.

For his part Minato was beyond angry, he was furious. He wasn't upset for Zeref's words at him, after all he knew that he was a terrible father, but the man dared to speak bad about his wife? He would never let anyone do that in his presence. He knew how badly this whole situation had affected the woman he loved and he wouldn't let this man to pour more salt into the wound.

It looked like Jiraiya had got a similar idea, after all the toad summoner also started moving towards Minato and Zeref, looking a lot angrier than Minato had ever seen him, which in truth was no surprise since his sensei practically saw Kushina as the daughter he never had.

Kakashi for his part didn't move, not wanting to worse the scene. It might sound cold but in his opinion they deserved these words. Well to be more precise all of them deserved some sort of punishment for what they had done, and right now it looked like this Zeref guy was going to handle it himself.

However before the situation could escalate further a quiet voice stopped both Minato and Jiraiya from starting a fight with the mage, while also getting everyone's attention.

"You… you know then? Naru-kun told you after all, didn't he?" Kushina said, doing her best to control her feelings, her violet eyes looking straight at Zeref, who returned the look while removing Minato's hand from his clothes.

"Indeed he did…" Zeref answered slowly while taking some steps back and straightening his clothes "then again I would have found out sooner or later, but yes, Naruto-kun explained to me all about his situation surrounding all of you"

"W-what did he say…?" For some reason the answer to that question really scared Kushina, even though she already had an idea of what the man would answer she still wanted a straight answer, even if it would hurt her.

She just needed to know for certain.

"He hates you" Zeref was quick to answer, not even bothering to sugar-coat his words, which made everyone flinch, Kushina and Minato more than the rest "All of you to be precise. You four, his siblings and his godmother too… although if I had to say he really hates you two the most" he ended while pointing to both Kushina and Minato, the blonde Hokage now standing besides his wife with an arm around her, his anger quickly forgotten for the sake of giving her the support he knew she needed.

Jiraiya also gave the pair a sad look. He didn't know what hurt him the most, if seeing the pair he considered his children so anguished or hearing that who was practically his grandson in all but blood hated his guts.

Kakashi just looked down, knowing that he had failed someone once again. He wondered what his teammates would say about him now.

Zeref really didn't enjoy causing pain, however this was necessary. He had one last thing to say, one last thing to determine.

"It isn't the neglect I'm really curious for though…" Zeref spoke, getting everyone's attention, some of them already dreading his words, after all nothing that he had said had been good "What I really want to know is why you let the abuse on Naruto-kun to continue for so long"

The room was quite after that, neither of the people there knowing that to say, while Zeref simply waited for his answer. It ended up coming from Minato, who for the first time spoke with a shacky voice.

"What are you talking about?" the blonde man asked, confused about that the man in front of him had said. Abuse? Was that some sort of cruel joke?! He had neglected his son, and for that he knew he was guilty, but he had never harmed any of them! They were his children for Kami's sake!

"Huh? So you don't really know?" Zeref said with a raised eyebrow, the confusion and indignation in everyone's face obvious to him. He wondered how they would react to his next words. Maybe other people would say it different than him? Maybe they would be more kind and gentle than him, but there was always that thing that stopped him from being like that.

He simply didn't care.

"Then let me tell you about the people you so proudly protect with your life and the reality of Naruto-kun's situation, Hokage-san"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile with Naruto._

The blonde mage released another bored sigh, his eyes still glued to the ceiling above him. Sasuki had left an hour ago and no one else had entered his room besides a couple of nurses, and while he enjoyed the peace and calm his room had, he still couldn't help but to find himself utterly bored.

He had tried to sleep already soon after Sasuki and her mom had left, but he just wasn't sleepy. The sun was still high in the sky anyway. He also couldn't even leave his room, his injuries not letting him.

Another sigh escaped his lips, his eyes going from the ceiling to the window besides him. He wondered where his sensei was. Why had he left with Kakashi and that woman anyway? Surely he wasn't going to tell them anything too important, wasn't he? No, it was impossible. His sensei really valued privacy after all so it was stupid to believe he would reveal anything to those people.

He still couldn't help but to worry for some reason…

Before his thoughts could make him even more worry a knock to the door of the room got his attention. He expected for the person to simply enter since that was what everyone else had done before, but instead no other sound could be heard after the knock.

Naruto simply stayed in silence, and just a few seconds later someone knocked on the door again, which simply made Naruto to raise an eyebrow at the door. Who could it be?

"Who is it?" he asked, curious about whom it was that had come to see him.

"It's me…" and then he released a groan as soon as he recognized that voice. He guessed that he should have seen it coming; after all he _had_ told her that they needed to talk, even if he didn't really like it.

"You can come in, Mito" Naruto said, and just a second later his door was opened slowly, almost as if the person was having doubts about it. Said person was of course Uzumaki-Namikaze Mito, who simply closed the door behind her quietly, her eyes looking directly at Naruto with both nervousness and determination.

"Where's the squirt?" Naruto asked, surprised and curious the fact that Natsumi wasn't here with her.

"We found a friend of hers in our way to eat Ichiraku's ramen. She ended up staying with her, although I don't think Hanabi-chan was happy about it" Mito said with a small smile, remembering the frown that the young Hyuga had when Natsumi had started following her around.

"I see…" the blonde answered, his eyes going from the red-headed girl to the window in the opposite direction. Mito then moved to sit on a chair besides the bed, feeling more nervous with every step.

The young Jinchuriki simply sat there, her eyes going from the floor below her to the blonde in her bed. There were so many things that she wanted to say, but the words just didn't get out of her mouth.

"You wanted to talk, didn't you?" Naruto said, his eyes finally going back to meet Mito's, a cold glint on them "Then talk, and I'll listen"

Mito's eyes widened for a moment before sudden steel appeared on them, interesting Naruto a little bit. What did she have to say that was so important?

The answer was simple: Everything.

It was as if the dam had just broken, which allowed for Mito to burst out everything she had wanted to tell Naruto from the start. From her reasons to abandon him to how much she regretted that decision, to how much she loved him and missed him and finally to how truly sorry she was and to how much she regretted following the Kyubi's words.

She spoke with passion to the point that she ended up standing up at the middle of her rant, her eyes never leaving Naruto's, who simply sat there, watching her, not even making any sound or reaction.

When Mito finally finished speaking her breathing became hard with some sweat going down on her forehead. For her this had been one of the most important and hardest things to do, but it was completely worth it for her. She would do anything to make amends with her brother.

While Mito looked at Naruto with sincere hope in her eyes the blonde simply looked at her with no emotion showing in his face, with even his eyes becoming colder than usual, his mind trying to process everything that Mito had just told him.

The first thing that came to Naruto's mind was that she was lying, just trying to make excuses, blaming the Kyubi for all of her problems in a vain attempt for him to forgive her, but even if he didn't want to believe her he could clearly see how sincere she was.

He wanted to believe that it was all a lie, just another trick of her but he knew how to read people, it was one of the first things Zeref had taught him, and even if he didn't Mito's sincere desperation was as clear a the sky today. In fact that expression actually reminded Naruto of Kushina, who would sport a similar one in the few times they had talked.

But what did that mean then? Were Mito's words really the truth then? He never believed anything that Kushina or Minato had said to him, so why should he believe Mito? Even if her words sounded so truthful…

'**Oh for the love of Kami and everything above!'** Naruto had expected this of course so it wasn't such a big surprise when a voice was suddenly heard in his head, however instead of the calm and almost grandfatherly voice he had heard before this time it was a mocking one that made him angry by just hearing it **'Please tell me you aren't believing all the crap that's coming out of her mouth!'**

"Shut up…" Naruto whispered, not even knowing if the voice would hear him but so wanting for it to be quite. Mito for her part just blinked in confusion, the blonde's words being too low for her to heard.

'**Oh no, not this time! I managed to get out of that fucking lizard's grasp so you are going to listen to me now before you fuck up completely like always!'** the voice was loud and clear, and it made Naruto grab his head, a headache already coming to him **'Apparently you **_**do**_** believe what this bitch is saying! Fine, whatever, I don't care at this point, but so what?! She still left you! She still abandoned you when you had no one else! She didn't even talk to you about that fucked up plan of hers! So what if the Kyubi proposed the idea? It was still her that followed it to the letter! Are you telling me you're so naïve that the only thing she needs is to spit some bullshit, give you doggy eyes and you're set? My god what a pathetic partner I have!'**

"Nii-san?" Mito asked worriedly, noticing how the blonde looked to be in pain. She tried to approach him, but what stopped by Naruto himself.

"I said shut up!" the blonde roared, making Mito to jump in surprise, not expecting something like that. She had never seen her brother with such an angry expression, but the thing that shocked her the most was how his eyes were quickly shifting from his dark-blue ones to a golden color.

'**Why so angry partner? I'm just telling you the truth here and you know it, I'm just helping you realize it' **this time the voice sounded a lot more calm, but the anger behind it could still be felt **'I know you won't do extreme stuff, after all even if you might think about it sometimes you're still too soft for it but to actually forgive her? That's no good… having a reason and regretting doesn't mean forgiveness! If she feels like shit then good, she **_**should**_**! Some may say that you should forgive and forget, well I say fuck them!'** Naruto's headache became worse with every word that he heard. He even had to focus to not let his magic out of control.

"Leave" those were the only words that Naruto could mutter and they were directed to Mito herself. He didn't like to admit it but the voice's words managed to get him. Why should he forgive her? Did she really think that just by throwing excuses they would be like before? No, they could never go to how they were before; he was too different for that now. Maybe at some point before he would have forgiven her and accepted her with open arms but now… it was impossible.

"But Nii-san!" Mito's eyes were starting to wet, her previous bravado changing to a hopeless feeling

"What? I heard what you had to say, isn't that enough? Isn't that what you wanted?" Naruto shot back, now getting annoyed, a combination of Mito's presence alongside side the pain throbbing in his head.

"No!" Mito yelled back, a hand resting over her chest, right where her heart was, and the other cleaning the tears that were about to spill out from her eyes "What I want is for Nii-san and I to be like we were before! I want that happiness back! I want my dear brother back!"

"That's impossible, even you should know that" Naruto's answer was quick, a sudden feeling of dizziness making him even worried than before. What was happening to him? "Mito just… leave. My answer should be clear to you know…just leave…please"

Tears were now falling from Mito's eyes without stop, her hope and heart crushed by Naruto's words. She wanted to fight this so much, but the words didn't manage to get out of her mouth. She ended up just nodding in defeat before turning and moving to leave the room.

Naruto for his part just closed his eyes, glad that this was over since he know could focus in why he was feeling so bad and why he was hearing voices in his head.

"I'm not giving up" however the blonde suddenly opened his eyes and looked straight at the door with a glare, one that was actually returned by Mito, who had already reached the door "Even if it takes me my whole life and beyond I won't give up on Nii-san because Nii-san is precious to me. No, you could say that he's the one I love the most, so I will never give up on him. That's the promise of a lifetime" and with one last look the red-head left, leaving a shocked Naruto behind.

The blonde's eyes suddenly felt too heavy, his mind didn't even have the strength to think about what Mito just said. He felt so weak and he wanted to rest so much….

"Fool…" that was the last thing the blonde said before he passed out on his bead.

To who it was directed not even him knew.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Zeref in the Training Room._

"Alcor" the black mage stood in the middle of the room, his voice resounding everywhere, his arms crossed over his chest with his calmed expression plastered in his face like always.

Of course in his mind his thoughts were far from calm. Not only from what he had confirmed today but also from what he was about to do. He knew that revealing this so early could cost him a lot, but he could no longer fight while being kept in the darkness about everything.

He would not be treated like a puppet .

"Alcor I know you're there so stop messing around" the dark lord stated again, his words were rewarded with Alcor finally appearing in front of him, a smile on his face.

"For Zeref-kun to call me like this… I wonder what the occasion is" Alcor said with a chuckle, however he was quickly silenced by what the dark mage did next.

Faster that Alcor could react Zeref moved. He grabbed the servant's neck before slamming him as hard as he could on the wall behind him, leaving an incision on it.

The white-haired man was shocked beyond believe, pain going through all of his body. He would have never believed for Zeref to do such a foolish thing. It wasn't like he hadn't try before, but those were half-hearted intents at best. Now this? This deserved some punishment.

The first thing the servant tried to do was to flick away in order to get away from the mage's grasp. However Zeref was faster and with a simple thought the whole room was bathed in black light, courtesy of the magic circle below them.

Alcor expected to disappear at any second, but instead his body stayed where it was, making his normal expression to turn into one of even greater shock. What was happening? Why weren't his powers working?! It couldn't be…

"It seems that it works perfectly then…" Zeref suddenly spoke after reading Alcor like an open book, which in turn made the servant to sport an expression of horror. So it really was him.

Alcor wasn't powerless though, but he knew he could never win in a fight against the man in front of him, so he decided to use the leash he had on him. It was a good way to teach respect to such a wild dog like him after all.

Alcor smiled, expecting for Zeref to suddenly yell in pain or for his body to collapse. He even saw the mark in his right hand to shine, but to his greater terror the only thing he got was a raised eyebrow from said dark mage.

"Feeling powerless already?" Zeref then slammed him on the wall again, making Alcor to openly glare at him with nothing but contempt, however Zeref easily matched his glare with one of his own, his eyes suddenly turning crimson red.

"Now…" Zeref continued, magic leaving his body in waved, actually making the white-haired man tremble "You're going to tell me _everything_ I want to know. No games, no stupid smiles and definitely not riddles. You understand? I hope you do or else…"

In that one moment Alcor felt something that only three beings had made him fell before, one of them being his own master

"…I'll break you"

He felt fear

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Well it has been a while, hasn't it? The only thing that I can say is that college got all of my attention, which is why I wasn't able to update. I'm truly sorry for that, but worry not. I won't abandon this fic, even if updates take longer, although you can expect next one a lot sooner than this**

**Now I don't know what to feel about this chapter. I thought of so many ways for it to go and in the end I chose this one. Not the best chapter in my opinion but after months of not writing I guess I should not be surprised**

**More about Sasuki's thoughts about everything she heard and about what Zeref told everyone will be revealed soon**

**I know some of you might want for Naruto to just forgive certain characters, but who knows if he'll forgive any of them (Well, me I guess), and even if he does it won't be a sudden thing**

**No I don't hate Alcor, I would not have add him to the fic if I did, but the plot right now needs for him to get a little beating…**

**Thank you to you all for waiting this long for a new chapter. Next one will come sooner!**

**Next Chapter: Between a dark place and a dragon**


	25. A Shift in the Game

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsus/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

**Chapter 23**

**A Shift in the Game**

Naruto woke up slowly, the pounding headache that had just assaulted his head now gone, for which the blonde was definitely grateful.

But in all honestly he was still tired. He didn't know what had tired him like this but the only thing he wanted right now was to go back to sleep in his bead and not wake up for what was left of the day.

And Naruto would have gladly done so if it wasn't for the fact that he was no longer in his hospital room.

What?!

With his sleepiness completely forgotten Naruto jumped from where he was, his body tensed, his eyes wide looking at everywhere, trying to figure out how he had gotten here in the first place.

The wind howled around the place, dark clouds completely hiding the sun from Naruto's eyes. He was in some sort of mountain, of that he was sure, but how he got him still eluded him.

The ground beneath him was rocky, and every time he moved the sound of the rocks below him could be heard. He was at the side of the biggest mountain he could see, with the face of said mountain also holding a gigantic hole that could easily fill a Bijuu or even a dragon.

On the other side there was an endless view of many other mountains, some big and some small, but all of them tiny if you were to compare them with the one in which he was right now. The mage moved closer to the opposite side of the hole in order to see just how high he was from the ground.

And boy was he high. He couldn't even see the base of the mountain. A thick mist hide everything from the blonde's eyes, not even letting him know just how high he was from the ground.

A sudden sound quickly made the blonde look up in the sky, at the black clouds that filled his vision. Just like before a sudden array of lightning appeared from them, each one hitting all the other mountains that he was able to watch

Unlike many people that would be nervous at the danger of being struck by a lightning, Naruto kept himself calm, knowing that such a thing wouldn't harm him, but his mind was still a mess with unanswered question about his new location

The mage released a sigh before turning around. At least he was in a rather big place. The whole terrain was incredible big, with the big hole that was one side of the mountain in front of him. He looked up in order to see the peak of the mountain, and just like he had thought said peak was at an altitude that would put the Hokage's Monument to shame

The blonde ended up turning around again and looking down, the mist still hiding what was at the base of the mountain from his eyes. Even if he couldn't see he knew that he couldn't just stay here. He didn't even know how he got here but he wasn't one to just wait and do nothing, so a quick decision was made on his head.

He would have to climb down. With his chakra it shouldn't be that difficult, even if he didn't know exactly how far he was from the ground. His magic would help him too if he actually found himself in an emergency while climbing down.

However before the blonde even started his journey down the mountain a powerful roar was heard just from inside the cave that was behind him. Of course this made Naruto to turn around immediately, more than ready to react to whatever had made that sound.

He couldn't have predicted what came off the hole though.

An actual person shot out the whole almost as if something had thrown him out of it, said person spinning in the air just before hitting the ground with a hard impact. Even then the individual kept rolling in the ground until he finally stopped just a few inches away from Naruto, allowing for the blonde to look at this person, his eyes widening in shock at who he was seeing.

It was a face that he would never forget.

"**Whoever said that lightning never strikes twice at the same place was a lying bastard"** the person said, his hand rubbing his face. Then he opened his eyes, his golden yellow eyes orbs looking straight at Naruto's blue ones, a expression of deep shock, which was then mirrored by his voice.

"**Well shit…"**

"You!" Naruto growled, his eyes narrowed at the being that he easily recognized as his own shadow. It was quite easy, after all he practically looked like his lost twin, except for his eyes which were golden yellow and his clothes which were completely white.

Naruto would have moved backwards to make more space between them but that would mean falling of the mountain. Instead he simply put his guard up, more than ready to kill his look-alike if he even tried something.

Said shadow simply stood up slowly while dusting some imaginary dirt from his clothes, his previous expression turned into a smirk.

"**Yep, it's me alright… or is it you? Don't forget we're one and the same, boy!"** for a moment it looked like the shadow would continue with his rant, however the next thing he did was to release a tired sigh, his previous smirk turning into a defeated expression, which Naruto simply found weird on the being.

"**You know what?"** the shadow said, a hand massaging the bridge of his nose, his voice sounding both irritated and tired **"Fuck it, I'm not in the humor for this, we'll deal with our existential problems later, right now let's just clean this mess before that overgrown lizard finally decides to eat me alive"**

Naruto's face turned from angry and suspicious to pure confuse, not understanding a word of what the shadow had just said. How could he even exist anyway? Didn't he destroy this being a while ago?!

"**And he finally decides to make presence…"** said the shadow once again while turning around and looking straight at the hole he just came from, prompting Naruto to do the same. That action was followed by another might roar just before a _gigantic_ figure appeared out of the mountain, making Naruto's eyes to go wide in shock.

He recognized this being, how could he not? The first time he saw him had left an impression on him that only Acnologia had been able to match. Blue scales, yellow eyes, a maw filled with razor-sharp fangs, a massive body, gigantic wings and of course a presence that spoke of power beyond human reach.

The being roared to the sky once again, his wings flipping open, his body completely filling the area, leaving just a small space for Naruto and his shadow. The sky itself reacted to the roar, releasing an incredible amount of lightning.

Such was the might of a dragon.

The dragon's yellow eyes looked down at the shadow's golden ones for just a second before looking at Naruto and releasing a low, menacing growl that honestly made Naruto more than a little nervous.

Lucky for him said dragon's anger was directed at someone else.

"**You fool!"** the dragon's voice was deep and strong, showing obvious anger and it was all directed at Naruto's shadow **"Look at what your actions have caused! **_**He**_** could have died!"**

"**Excuse me?!"** Naruto's shadow snarled while pointing at the dragon **"If someone is to blame here is you! **_**We**_** would have been fine if you hadn't gotten in the way!"**

Naruto on the other hand had no idea what was going on, and the only thing that was stopping him from asking question was the feeling that getting between these two would be a really bad idea.

Which was proven correct since the next thing the dragon did was to grab his look-alike with one of his frontal claws. The movement had been too quick for the Shadow to react, and the only thing he could do now was to struggle in vain while the dragon brought him close to his head.

"**If you think I will let you corrupt him then you are terribly mistaken"** the dragon growled out, slowly squishing the shadows with its claw.

"**The fact that you think you can stop me just proves how little you know you fucking gecko!"** the shadow managed to yell, prompting another growl from the dragon. It definitely looked like the dragon would squish the life out of the Shadow, but a yell stopped it on its track.

"Wait! Stop!" Naruto yelled, trying to get the attention of the dragon. He needed some answers as soon as possible, or else he might go crazy.

It looked like the mighty being actually heard him since the next thing he did was to focus on the small frame off the blonde. Then without warning the beast smashed the shadow to the ground, his claw then simply pressing said shadow to the ground below them.

"**Sorry about that, I got a little side-tracked"** the dragon spoke, sounding a lot friendlier than before. The beast notices how Naruto's eyes were no focused on the claw that was still keeping the shadow in the ground. Said claw was even stopping the shadow from speaking **"Don't worry, if that was enough to kill that thing he wouldn't be such a hassle"**

"**Damn straight!"** somehow the shadow was still able to talk even though the beast's massive claw was squishing the life out of him. In response the dragon simply lifted his paw a little bit before slamming it down once again; honestly hoping to vanquish the shadow to a place that it wouldn't bother them.

"Raijin… is that really you?" the blonde asked, bewildered by the situation that he was in, his eyes looking up at the dragon he easily recognized .

"**The one and only, little fishcake"** Raijin answered while lowering his head in order to get to the same level as Naruto, while also making sure that the shadow was still kept under his claw.

"B-but how?!" Naruto asked, more than confused about his whole situation. Where was he? How could Raijin and his shadow of all beings be here with then?

The dragon released what looked like a sigh before lowering his body to the ground, still making sure that the shadow was trapped under him. Naruto took advantage of this and moved to the dragon's side, his face still showing how much he needed an answer.

He was so confused that he didn't even caught on the fact that he was called by that terrible nickname.

"**It's tricky to explain little fishcake"** the dragon said in a deep voice, his yellow eyes looking down at the human that had his powers ** "However I'll do my best to explain… even though this kind of stuff were never my thing… **_**she**_** would enjoy this though…"** Raijin continued, although that last bit was barely above a whisper, confusing Naruto even more. Who was he talking about?

"**The first thing you need to understand is that this place is actually inside of you…"** the dragon said, noticing how the blonde now looked even more confused than before, prompting the dragon to release what looked like a sigh **"Look I really don't get it either, I don't even know what this place is **_**supposed**_** to be. I thought that my soul would disappear after you gained my powers, but instead I appeared here"** Raijin then went from looking at Naruto to look at his right claw, which was the limb that was keeping the shadow trapped **"And then this **_**thing**_** appeared too…"**

"**I have a name you know?"** the shadow suddenly spoke, however the voice didn't come from under Raijin's claw, but from just behind Naruto, prompting said mage to quickly stand up and turn around, his eyes now glaring at the smirking face of his look-alike.

"How can you be here?" Naruto asked, his guard up just in case the shadow tried something "I defeated you… you shouldn't exist anymore!"

"**Damn… Zeref should really teach you more shit if you actually believe that's what happened"** the shadow said with a chuckle while shaking his head, a grin quickly forming on his face **"That's the problem with you, boy! Even now you **_**still**_** think of me as someone different from you, even though we are one and the same!**

His words simply prompted a growl from Naruto, his fist clenching tightly. Just the sight if the shadow was more than enough to simply make him angry. Meanwhile Raijin simply observed the interaction between the two look-alikes, deciding that this was a conversation long overdue.

"You are a part of me, I have accepted that already" the blonde said through gritted teeth. He might have come to accept this thing as a part of himself that he kept hidden and under control as much as he could, but that didn't mean that he was proud of having it or anything.

"**Exactly! I **_**am**_** a part of you; at least you got that right"** the shadow said while crossing his arms over his chest **"However you keep repressing me! It's not enough to just accept me, boy! I know what you really want in your heart, and the fact that you keep ignoring what **_**we**_** want annoys the hell out of me! So basically I ain't leaving until you stop being a pussy"**

Naruto just looked at his shadow for a few more seconds before simply turning around, deciding that ignoring it was the best thing to do in order to keep his sanity intact. If that thing really thought he would do that sort of things then it was crazier than he thought.

"But why am I here then?" there were still plenty of other questions in Naruto's head, but considering that Raijin looked like he didn't have that much information and that he would rather ignore his shadow completely the blonde decided to ask something that he believed the dragon could answer.

In response to his question the king of lightning actually growled loudly and for a moment Naruto thought that the dragon was glaring at him, but instead he was glaring at the being just behind him.

"**That would be that bastard's fault!"** the dragon roared, prompting Naruto to turn around again in order to look at his shadow, who was in turn glaring at the mighty beast **"He took advantage of the moment in which your emotions were running high in order to take over your mind!"**

At his words Naruto's eyes went wide before he focused his attention on his shadow with a glare, said shadow just looking back with his arms crossed over his chest, a small frown and an eyebrow raised, his gaze also centered on the blonde.

"**Oh please stop overreacting so much! I just tried to do a little tweaking, that's all"** the shadow's words felt in deft hears since the next thing that Naruto did was to grab him by the collar of his jacket.

"What did you do to me?" Naruto hissed with a glare, his face right in front of the shadow. Said shadow simply smirked back in response.

"**I just tried to make your mind more compatible with our magic. You should be thanking me, you know?"** the shadow explained calmly **"You might be able to use dark magic, but as long as you keep denying me subconsciously we will never reach our full potential! I was honestly hoping for little old Zeref to say something but either he thinks you aren't ready or he has something else planed"**

"**Don't let him fool you, Naruto"** Raijin growled while glaring at the shadow **"You should keep this thing as controlled as you can…"**

"**Hey why don't you go and fuck yourself already?! I was here first you glorified battery, and I'm definitely not leaving" **the shadow yelled at the dragon with rage, tired of someone he considered an intruder to order him around like that.

"**Don't worry boy, you'll definitely like what I did… Or you might hate it… we'll see!"** those were the last words that the shadow said before disappearing out of thin air, leaving Naruto glaring at nothing, little sparks going off his fists, a small growl escaping his mouth.

"**Beings like that should be kept as controlled as possible, Naruto"** the lightning king said seriously, his yellow eyes looking down at Naruto **"If not then…well you already met that bastard Acnologia, didn't you?"**

The mage just nodded, his mind still thinking of what the shadow might have done. Just the thought of that thing messing up with his head sent a shiver down his spine. Sure he felt normal right now, but would he be the same when he wakes up?

With a tired sigh the blonde simply turned around, his gaze on the towering form of the dragon, a few different ideas and questions passing through his head.

He might hate this situation but it didn't mean that he couldn't get something out of it.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile with Zeref_

"Well I have to admit you're a lot more resistant than I thought you would be… anyone else would be dead already" the dark mage spoke, his form sitting in the middle of the hidden room he used to train Naruto.

His words were directed at none other than the white-haired servant of the Shinigami, Alcor. However instead of the witty comment the servant would normally make the only thing he could do was to cough up a glob of blood, his eyes looking directly at Zeref with a gaze full of pain and hatred.

The reason for this was the position in which Alcor found himself in. The servant was now hanging over the floor; multiple black chains coming out from the walls were holding his limbs and stirring them as much as they could. That was the kind part though, since there were also multiple other chains going _through_ the body of the servant, piercing one part of his body and coming out from the opposite side.

Some of them were going through his extended limbs, while others simply went through his torso. Blood leaked out from each wound, with a puddle of the crimson liquid being formed just under the tormented being.

"**I…told you…what you…wanted to know…"** the servant managed to say between breaths, more blood coming out from his mouth. Just the simple act of speaking was a painful task for the man **"Release me…now"**

Zeref just watched at the red-eyed man before him with an almost boring gaze, his head moving a little bit to the side, almost as if he was really thinking about Alcor's request. It was true what he had said, Alcor had told him everything he wanted to know, and even some more. He had proved strong at the beginning but after a while he simply started talking just to make the pain away.

They always do.

"I don't believe you are in any position to demand things, Alcor…" and with that said the mage simply snapped his fingers. The result of that were waves of black electricity appearing in each chain, all of them reaching the servant that they held.

The servant's whole body felt nothing but pain. He opened his mouth to scream but not sound came out of it. The waves of electricity kept coming for a whole minute before finally stopping, smoke now coming out of the white-haired servant, now looking more defeated than ever.

Alcor now truly regretted telling Zeref everything. From the current conflict between the Gods to his participation in Naruto's childhood. He had thought that if he did the man would stop the torture, but instead the dark mage had made honor to his name as a monster and simply kept torturing him for the fun of it.

That wasn't all though. He still didn't know how Zeref had managed to find a way to block his powers, but Alcor still knew that there was no way the dark mage could block his Lord's control over him. However when no punishment came to the mage for torturing him the servant came to a grim conclusion.

This was his punishment. He had been a fool to believe that his Master would let him go with just a warning and a little bit of pain. His Lord must have planned this. The fact that he had been allowed to tell Zeref what he knew without his Lord intervening just made itmore obvious. He had used this situation to both punish him and share information with Zeref.

It was in moments like these in which Alcor understood just how little the Shinigami valued him.

For his part Zeref was deep in his thoughts, his mind replaying everything that the servant had told him so far. It looked like his suspicion has been correct and Alcor had been the one messing around with anyone that could have been close to his apprentice since he was nothing but a baby.

Not only that but now he finally understood what the situation was. Of course he had known that there were two other gods besides the Shinigami, but to hear that one of those gods was the actual enemy? And that his servants were probably already in this world manipulating everything from the shadows? It made the situation a lot more urgent for the dark mage.

He would have to move his plan faster than he thought. He just hoped Naruto would be ready. He wasn't done interrogating the white-haired man though; there were still some questions that hadn't been answered.

"You haven't told me everything though" Zeref spoke, receiving nothing but a cough from Alcor in response "You tried to isolate Naruto-kun to the point that you made people attack him. Just for that I should kill you Alcor… but first tell me, what about the Uchiha girl?"

If the Shinigami's plan was to have the boy isolated then why let him to make a relationship with that Uchiha girl? It didn't really add up to the plan in Zeref's head.

"**She was… to be used as a last resource… after all… betrayal hurts the most when the person is close to you… doesn't it?"** that was Alcor's response, which just made the mage to narrow his eyes.

"And all of this just to have Naruto be loyal and dependant of me?"

"**Yes… and in turn you had to be loyal to my Lord…but you proved to be too independent…"** another wave of black lightning hit Alcor after that, courtesy Zeref of course.

He would have to teach Naruto that soon enough. With enough control over darkness a mage could easily use it to emulate other elements like fire or lightning. It was a really good weapon against dragon that believed were immune to that, but since the technique itself was of darkness it was definitely effective.

A ball of pure magical energy formed itself in the dark lord's hand, growing until it became as big as his head. Alcor did his best to raise his head and look t the black sphere, a sudden feeling of dread overcoming his body.

"I think it's time to take you out of your torment Alcor; however you must also understand that your actions have consequences…"

"**Shinigami-sama won't let you get away from this!"** Alcor yelled with the little strength he had left, but those yells feel in deft ears.

"I think your God has abandoned you, Alcor" and with those words Zeref was just a second away from turning Alcor into ashes, but a sudden presence followed by a voice had never heard before stopped him, his eyes now looking for the intruder.

"**I can't allow you to do that, Dragneel-san" **the voice was followed by the sudden apparition of a _teenager_ just besides Alcor, making Zeref to frown, his eyes watching the newcomer like a hawk while Alcor actually chuckled a little bit, even though it was obvious that the action hurt him.

This boy could not be older than eighteen years old, and his appearance honestly made Zeref wonder if the Shinigami had a thing for silver-haired young men. He had messy, straight, silver hair and purple eyes with a few bangs hanging over his right eye, while his clothes consisted of some sort of black uniform that he didn't recognized, alongside white gloves on his hands, a black heavy trench coat, black baggy trousers, and black leather boots.

The other thing that the dark mage noticed was the sword that this young man had strapped on his waist, and how cold his purple eyes looked. Even though he looked young the boy had an imposing presence. The mage wondered how strong this person was, after all with how things were he might have to fight him if he proved to be hostile.

"**You don't need to worry, Dragneel-san"** the purple-eyed man spoke, his eyes going from Zeref to Alcor while he crossed his arms over his chest **"I simply came to pick up Alcor here, not to fight you"**

"So you're another one of the Shinigami's dogs?" the mage asked.

"**The only dog here is Alcor, but yes, I also work for Shinigami-sama"** the new servant answered smoothly, a cold expression present on his face, perfectly mirroring Zeref's **"While I understand that you might have resentment against Alcor my Lord still needs him alive, so for now your fun must come to an end"**

Zeref just looked at both servants for a few seconds, his mind trying to decide in a course of action. Even though there was a cold fury inside of him that wanted to just kill Alcor once and for all, he knew he couldn't openly oppose the Shinigami. At least not while he was still under his control.

So with a flick of his wrist all the chains that were keeping Alcor lifted on the air disappeared, the white-haired servant falling directly into a pool of his own blood, prompting the new servant to move in order to help him.

"Tell your master that if he really wants to conserve his dog to never send him to me again" Zeref said with a glare, which just received a nod from the siver-haired servant.

"**I will pass on your message"** was the only thing he said before lifting up Alcor, not caring if his clothes got blood all over them.

"**Thank you for coming… old friend…"** Alcor managed to mutter, low enough for only his fellow servant to hear him.

"**I only came here because I was ordered to" **he answered coldly **"Don't forget that you only had one friend Alcor… and he died a long time ago"**

Zeref couldn't hear what both servant were saying, however he easily saw how Alcor's relieved smile suddenly turned into a frown, a glint that Zeref both recognized and confused him appearing in the servant's red eyes.

"**I guess… you're right about that"**

And with that both servants disappeared, leaving the mage alone, his mind simply going through everything he had just learned.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Next day, Hokage's office_

The only thing that could be heard in the room was the sound of paper being written on; an action that not only the current Hokage but every other before him always believed was tedious and boring.

Such thing was known as the dreaded paperwork.

However for the first time in his life Namikaze Minato found himself actually appreciating said paperwork. He thought something like that would never happen, but after everything that had happened in the last few days he was really grateful of the paperwork for distracting him.

Then again even with all the distraction in the world there was no way Minato could ignore what he had learned from the man known as Zeref.

He refused to believe him though. It had to be a lie! There was no way in hell that the people he had sworn to protect, that the people that he had protected every since he was a child, that he had been willing to sacrifice his _soul_ in order to protect would harm his own flesh and blood!

He refused to believe that. It was already like a mantra on his head. _It's a lie_, he kept repeating himself in his mind. How could he not? Just the mere thought of anyone on this village harming his son was enough to make him sick to the stomach.

And yet he couldn't help but to be tormented by what Zeref had revealed to him yesterday. If he was to be believed then Naruto had been attacked by villagers every since he was a kid!

Such a thing, even though he truly believed was false, had affected everyone that had heard it. His sensei Jiraiya had said it was a lie, and that no one in Konoha would dare to do such a thing, while Kakashi had simply stood there, almost as if he had been petrified.

However the biggest reaction had been from Kushina herself. As soon as Zeref had spoken she had grabbed the man by the throat and easily lifted him from the ground, and Minato could swore that the killing intent irradiating from his wife had been as strong as the Kyubi itself.

He will give Zeref credit though. The dark-haired man had been able to act calm even though Kushina had been from one wrong sentence to snapping his neck. He could still remember clearly what Zeref said next to his wife, almost as if he was challenging her.

_Is the truth too much for you to handle? Why don't investigate a little bit and see exactly what kind of people you're protecting_

It had taken both Jiraiya and his own help but they were able to separate Kushina from Zeref long enough for the man to leave, saying that he would make sure Naruto was attended properly.

No one knew what to do after that, their minds being in a state of confusion, shock, denial and anger. It was a few minutes later that he had ordered Kakashi to follow Zeref and to report him back later, an order that the Jounin simply accepted with a nod before leaving.

It was then that he had been able to finally focusing on his wife, knowing that hearing stuff like this would affecter her most. However instead of a sad woman what he saw almost made him shiver

The look Kushina gave him had been so cold, so devoid of any emotions except pure and simple cold fury that he had actually been forced to give a step back. That had been followed by Kushina ordering Jiraiya to investigate everything that Zeref had said, and that if he wasted her time by fooling around she would rip his testicles and then forced them down his throat.

He had never seen his sensei moving so fast in his life.

He had tried to talk to the former Jinchuriki but it was almost as if she was in a trance. The last thing she told him was that she wanted to know the minute either Naruto or Menma woke up. He had tried calming her down but the only thing he got was another blast of killing intent that rooted him to the place.

A frustrated sigh escaped the blonde's lips, his hand stopping writing. He couldn't help but to wonder what would his sensei find out. Zeref had even given a few names, and while he wanted to believe that all of this was nothing but a sick joke another part of him wondered what he would do in what Zeref said was true…

With that thought his blank stare suddenly sharpened. He knew exactly what he would do; he just hoped things didn't get out of control.

"I'm surprised you aren't using a clone for this, Hokage-sama" Minato's attention suddenly went to the man that had just entered his office, one that he recognized immediately.

"Sometimes you just need a distraction, Hiashi" the blonde said, his eyes focused in the white eyes of the Hyuga leader, who simply responded with a nod and a small smile.

"Ahh yes, while some might hate it others find such a task relaxing…sadly I have to admit I'm in the first group though" the Hyuga said while taking a seat in the other side of the desk, his eyes looking at the amount of papers that were in the desk.

"So what was it that you wanted to talk about, Hiashi?" the blonde asked, putting down the document he was about to sign and focusing on the man in front of him.

"It's about the council meeting we had yesterday" Hiashi said seriously, gaining a raised eye-brow from the blonde Kage.

Of course Minato knew of what meeting the Hyuga was talking about. Yesterday there had been a meeting between what could be called the Council of the village, which was formed by the clan leaders, and himself, the Hokage, to talk about the results of the Chuning Exams.

Meetings like those were of normal occurrence. He made sure to have those at least twice a month, to make sure that the situation in the village was as good as it could be. They even discussed some decisions that would affect the village as a whole; after all he needed to know how his decision would affect each clan individually.

He also had some small, more private meetings with some high-regarded civilians of the village just to have all the information he could.

Of course in the end it was him the one that took every decision. Those meetings only functioned as his way of getting every fact straight before deciding something, but as the Hokage the final call was his and his alone, and while he tried he knew it was impossible to agree with everyone.

Yesterday there had been one of those meetings, this one focusing of the results of the Chunin Exams. While Minato himself already had an idea of which Genins deserved the promotion and which didn't, he liked to hear the opinion of each clan leader, who of course were all great Shinobi and Kunoichi who he had fought alongside with many times in the past, so of course he liked to hear their opinions, even if sometimes it was plainly obvious that they weren't being objective enough, specially went it came to members of their own clan.

This meeting was even more chaotic because of the amount of clan heirs participating, but the blonde Kage had already come to a final decision. Now he only needed for both his sons to get better so he could announce it.

"Hiashi if this if about Neji-kun…" the blonde started immediately, knowing that some last minute begging or complaining about his decision could happen, although he never expected it coming from Hiashi, who had been pretty silent through the meeting yesterday.

"Don't worry my friend" however Hiashi stopped with a shake of his head "I understand that my nephew is not ready to ascend through the ranks, even if he had the status of a prodigy… sadly that is consequence of my actions so only I can be held responsible for Neji's mental stability…" The Hyuga leader finished with a sad and tired sigh, knowing just how much he had failed to his dead brother. He just hoped he could make amends now, or else he won't be able to look at his brother's eyes in the next life.

"What is it then?" now Minato was truly curious about what Hiashi wanted since he couldn't think of any other reason for him to be here.

"It's about Naruto-kun" as soon as his son's name escaped the Hyuga's lips Minato couldn't help but to tense, his eyes narrowing at the man in front of him. What did he want with his son? Of course he knew that Naruto's action during the final battle had created more than a little controversy, but he didn't expect for Hiashi of all people to come and talk to him.

This just made him remember how in the meeting between the Clan heads everyone had been more than a little interested in Naruto's summon, after all a Genin being able to summon anything like that was already incredible, but the beast had also _destroyed_ a Bijuu by itself.

He knew how many of them were worried about such a power being let loose, so the only thing that he had been able to do was to guarantee them that Naruto was not a danger to the village.

However he had been forced to lie to them when they asked from where Naruto had gotten that summon. _Clan secret_ he had been forced to say, since he couldn't really reveal that the summon belonged to a mysterious man that had trained Naruto from years under everyone's noses and that was not affiliated with any village.

_That_ would certainly make a ruckus.

"What about him?" the Hokage simply asked, making the Hyuga to released a sigh.

"Let's face it Minato, after Naruto-kun's little stunt in the finals his popularity with most of the village has become quite…bad to put simple" Hiashi said, deciding to be direct with his old friend "While me and many others are thankful of him for stopping the Bijuu, many others, both Shinobi and civilian, are more than a little worried of a Genin having so much power, even if he is your son…"

Minato could only release a small sigh at hearing the man's words. It was sadly true. His ANBU had told him that much already, about the chaos that Naruto's actions had caused.

And that was only inside the village. Kami knows what Kumo and Iwa would do if they considered Naruto a threat, which they most certainly will do in Minato's opinion, which is why he had his best ANBU looking over his son right now until both A and Onoki finally returned to their village, which should happen tomorrow.

"Yes I know that Hiashi, but I'm guessing you didn't came here to tell me the obvious" Minato answered, now even more interested in what Hiashi had to say.

In response the Hyuga leader simply took a scroll from the inside of his robes before handing it to Minato, who looked at it with interest.

"Please read that, it should answer your questions" was the only thing Hiashi said, earning a raised-eyebrow from the Kage, who then started reading the document on his hand.

For a few minutes no sound could be heard in the room. Hiashi simple let his old friend and leader read, knowing the importance that this meeting could have for the future of his clan. He watched carefully how Minato reacted to the words in the scroll, looking at how Minato went from curios and interested to shocked beyond believe in a second. Then once he stopped reading Hiashi was greeted with a fierce and cold stare that honestly made him swallow unconsciously.

"What is the meaning of this, Hiashi?" Minato asked with an edge to his voice, which was no surprise considering the contents of the scroll he had just read.

"A deal that would benefit us all, Hokage-sama" Hiashi said while trying his best to not sound intimidated, knowing that he was now truly dealing not with his old friend, but with one of the strongest Shinobi that the world had ever seen.

Minato just stared hard at Hiashi for a few seconds before his eyes felt on the text once again, his gaze doing a quick once-over, the content of it still putting him on edge.

A formal request to create marriage contract between the next head of the Hyuga clan and a member of the Uzumaki-Namikaze clan

Or to be more precise between Hyuga Hanabi and Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto.

"You know very damn well how I feel about this kind of things, Hiashi…" the Kage said, his piercing blue eyes glaring at the Hyuga head "I thought I had left quite clear that I wouldn't accept such a thing when it comes to my children"

He had. This wasn't the first time someone had tried something like this, after all arranged marriages, while rare, were still a used practice. He still remember how not even a week after the Kyubi attack some of the Clan heads had tried to make one between their own heirs and his kids.

Heck, Fugaku had tried to do it twice. If it was by him then Mito would have been married of to Itachi while Sasuki and Menma enjoyed their own marriage life.

A shiver went down his spine just by thinking of that one.

So he had made quite clear to everyone that under no circumstance he would do such a thing to his kids. First because he himself hated the idea of taking away something so important out of them, and second because he was sure that Kushina would literally murder him if he even _thought_ of doing something like that.

"Yes I understand that" Hiashi answered "However I believe that the situation has changed a little bit Hokage-sama, and while I know your stand on this type of things could you at least hear me out? I wouldn't have come here just to make you waste your time after all.

Minato just looked straight at Hiashi's eyes for a few seconds, trying to decipher what was the man's intention, however after a few seconds of it he couldn't do anything except release a sigh, a hand going to his face and massaging his temple.

"Explain then…" he finally said.

In response Hiashi also sighed back, a tired gaze appearing on his eyes, which honestly surprised Minato allot, after all if there was someone that knew how to remain stoic was Hyuga Hiashi.

"Things are… not going very well within my clan, Minato" the Hyuga spoke, a little bit of reluctance coming from his voice. Revealing these types of things was definitely not something he liked to do, but if he wanted to get Minato's help he would have to come clean, even if it hurt his pride.

"The relationship between the Main House and the Branch House are now worst than ever my friend… While I _still_ am the Clan head the Elders in the clan have gained too much power, something that my own carelessness allowed" with another sigh Hiashi continued "While before there was a tense peace inside the Clan now… I fear for the future of the Hyuga, Minato"

"The Elders were _not_ happy with Neji's abilities in the Chunin Exams… while one might think they would be proud of clansman showing such a promise they were actually _disgusted_ that a member of Branch House had done so much better than any member of the Main House had ever done… meanwhile every member of the Branch House sees Neji as a hero, a model to look up to, someone that showed them that even member of the Branch House could carry and use the power of the Byakugan with pride… even if he lost the fight my nephew really left an impression on them.

"It's because of this that things between the two Houses are worst than ever, and I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it" Hiashi's voice was filled with shame at revealing that "Like I said the Elders have too much power inside the Clan, and even the slightest provocation against them could cause a civil war to start between both Houses" Hiashi finally ended, his eyes down, silently lamenting the current state of the Hyuga's.

For his part Minato showed no reaction to Hiashi's words, but on the inside he was quite shocked. He always let Clan heads to deal with the matters of their own clan. He only saw it fair, but he was always more than ready to act if the situation ever got out of control.

The last problem that Minato had to deal with had been just after the Kyubi attack. The regular population had started mistrusting the Uchiha clan as a whole after rumors about them being able of controlling the Kyubi had started. Tension had quickly grown between the Uchihas and everyone else and it had been only his own intervention that had stopped a major crisis from happening.

Shimura Danzo's sudden death had helped too though.

"I understand your situation Hiashi, and while I'm glad for you to share this with me I still don't understand how my son marrying with your daughter has anything to do with"

A sudden fire appeared in the Hyuga's eyes, prompting Minato to remember those times in which he and Hiashi had fought in the war. Now that was the look he preferred in his friend's face instead of that defeated one.

"I might not be able to do much anymore Minato, but I refuse to let the Hyuga clan to destroy itself" Hiashi spoke with conviction, his eyes looking directly at Minato "I want you to understand that I love both my daughters, Minato, but while I know that the title of heir is something that Hinata deserves as her birthright, I believe she is too… kind for it" Hiashi explained, however he didn't sound disappointed at all when he talked about Hinata, in fact it was pride what escaped his voice as soon as his daughter's name was mentioned

How could he not be proud of her? She was the living clone of his deceased wife, someone that he respected and loved above all things

"Which is why I have chosen Hanabi as my heir" now this was the hard part, Hiashi knew, after all it was now that he convinced Minato of how much he needed his help "But the cracks in the clan are too many… Hanabi won't be able to do it alone… and I refuse to leave her to deal with this alone… she will need someone by her side, someone strong enough to help her put the Hyuga clan back in his former glory… and I think that someone could be Naruto-kun"

"But why?" Minato asked with a sharp tone, wondering why Hiashi would want to drag Naruto into such a problem "If it is because of what he did in the Exams then…"

"I won't lie" Hiashi interrupted him, not wanting to make any misunderstandings "That is part of the reason… just like the others I thought that Naruto-kun would always live in the shadow of your family Minato… but apparently we all never gave him the credit he deserved"

'That's putting it lightly' was the first thing that came to Minato's mind.

"But I also want to help him" the Hyuga declared .

"Explain" Minato shot back, wondering exactly how Naruto had gotten the attention of the Hyuga clan.

"We both know how people are acting now, Minato…" Hiashi said solemnly "It's basically like what happened years ago with the Uchihas… we both know that if something isn't done Naruto-kun's life in the village might become a living hell"

'You have no idea…' was another sad thought that went through the Kage's head, knowing how true Hiashi's words were. If he didn't do something to address the issue the population in Konoha might never trust his son.

However revealing the origin of his summon was out of the question, and doing a public announcement could easily do more harm than good, especially if what Zeref had said was true.

Kami he so hoped it wasn't.

"But with this" Hiashi said while signaling the scroll "Naruto-kun would have the backing of the Hyuga clan. I don't see many people questioning him with that. Hidden hostility might still be there but that can always be fixed with the right decisions. The Elders of the clan won't oppose the marriage, after all not only Naruto-kun proved his strength, but he also comes from a prestigious clan, even if he isn't a Hyuga they will accept it"

"And you daughter?" Minato suddenly asked "Are you truly ready to throw away her freedom so easily?!"

"Believe me Minato I wouldn't ask for this if I had any other choice…" the black-haired said with an own edge of his voice, not liking someone questioning his love for his daughters, even if it was his Kage "Hanabi is more than willing to accept, and while it might be hard at the beginning I'm sure they can grow to respect each other, and who knows? They might even find love between themselves… just like I did"

Both men ended up staring directly at one another, doing their best to read their fellow Konoha nin. In the end it was Minato the one that released a sigh while leaning back into his chair, a headache already forming itself in his head.

"You say you want to help Naruto-kun…why?"

"I owe him" was Hiashi's answer, surprising Minato quite a lot "Like I said I didn't care about the boy before… but one way or another that kid found a way to push Hinata to become stronger, something that I wasn't able to do… I don't know how he did it, hell he might not even had done it on purpose…but he still did… not only that but his fight against Neji somehow changed him… he now no longer walks a path of hate" the Hyuga answered with a small smile, glad that he could now fix his relationship with his nephew.

"Besides" he then continued "I also owe both you and Kushina a lot… you saved me more than once in the war… and Kushina was there when my wife died… she stopped me from failing into despair and that is a debt I will never be able to repay… but I can at least try by helping your son"

Minato's former resolution of denying the proposal actually faltered a little bit at hearing all of that, but in the end he simply shook his head, knowing what such a decision could cause. While one part of him knew that something like this could actually be really good for Naruto, specially considering his current state and the fact that it would also help not only a friend but a Clan of his village, another part simply thought that if he did something like this he would be destroying any chance that he had of fixing the situation with his son.

In the end Minato could only frown, knowing that this wasn't just something that he could discard, but that while he could take the decision by himself it wasn't something that he should do.

He was sure of something though .

Kushina was going to kill him as soon as he brought the subject.

_I hate this job._

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile, Training Area 7_

Currently the training ground used by Team 7 had only one member of said team using it, said person being one of the Jinchurikis of the team: Mito.

The red-head was doing her best to distract herself by training with her sword, the conversation she had with Naruto still fresh on her mind. Not only that but there were so many things going on in her head that she felt she was going to explode.

A good example would be her mother's sudden change in attitude. It had started yesterday and while she was sure that Natsumi hadn't noticed she could practically feel how her mother was on edge… almost as if she was inside the enemy territory or something.

More than once she had caught her with such a cold look on her eyes that it honestly made her shiver. She had never seen her like that and it worried her a lot, but a part of her told her that asking her about it would only make it worse.

Another thing was that she couldn't properly visit any of her brothers. Sure she had already gone to check on them but with both being asleep it wasn't as if she could do a lot with them. She really wanted to talk with Naruto and to ask Menma just what the hell was the thinking when he used the Kyubi's chakra like that.

And last there were the results of the Chunin Exams. While she was confident on her skills she was really worried about not making the cut. Now that would be a real disappointment, especially considering that she was sure that her Naruto-nii would become a Chunin.

'If someone deserves the promotion it's definitely him' thought the girl, her hand swinging the sword the way her mother had taught her ever since she was a child, her mind being swarmed by so many things that she didn't notice the new presence that was watching her training until said person spoke.

"Training is a great way to release some stress, isn't it?" as soon as she heard that Mito turned towards were the voice was, mentally cursing herself for not paying more attention to her surroundings. With her sword at hand the red-head looked up at the branch of one of the trees, her eyes narrowing at the person sitting there.

Said person was definitely a woman. A beautiful one at that in Mito's eyes, probably on her mid twenties. The woman had long, straight, blonde, hair bound with taut bandages and dark eyes. She wore a short-sleeved black and purple blouse and black pants, both of which had a design similar to clouds on them, purple fingerless gloves and a chain of blue beads wound around her left hand. She also wore bandages around her arms and legs as well as a red belt around her waist. However what had caught Mito's immediate attention was the Kumogakure forehead protector that the woman had, which unconsciously put the red-head in even more of an edge.

It looked like the Kumo nin saw through her though, since the next thing she did was to chuckle before jumping from the tree and landing quite gracefully a few feet in front of her, the woman's eyes never leaving Mito's violet ones.

"You don't need to worry little miss, I'm not here to cause any trouble" the blonde said with her arms raised, a small smile appearing on her face "I just wanted to talk"

"Why would a Kumo nin want to talk to me?" Mito asked suspicion obvious on her voice. While she wasn't as paranoid as Menma when it came to people from Kumo and Iwa she still found the situation weird. Not only that but there was something off about this woman. She didn't know what but it sure made her nervous.

"That's because we have something in common, Namikaze-san" the blonde said, however before Mito could ask about it the woman herself answered "After all we both have some furry little things sealed inside of us… well mine is more fire than fur though" that last part was practically whispered, but in all honesty Mito wasn't really paying much attention there.

The red-head's eyes widened almost comically, definitely not expecting to hear something like that. Sure she knew that a few Jinchurikis of other villages have come for the exams, her dad had told her that much, but she definitely didn't expect for one of them to come talk to her like that.

"Let me introduce myself this time" the revealed Jinchuriki said with a cough, her former carefree expression now turning in a serious one "My name is Nii Yugito, Jonin of Kumogakure and Jinchuriki of the _**Nibi no Bakeneko (Two-Tailed Monster Cat)**_"

Now Mito was looking at the now revealed Yugito under a new light, after all she had been told how both Jinchuriki had managed to completely control the power of their Bijuus, something that she knew neither her nor Menma could do at all.

Not that she had any interest in using that bastard's power, not after what he had done to her.

"I understand that you might not trust me, but there was something I had to talk with you about… well more than one thing to be honest" Yugito said with a friendly smile, ignoring the voice on certain cat that was telling her to do this faster.

"What do you want to talk about, Yugito-san" the Uzumaki said respectfully, deciding to see what this was all about. However the smile that appeared on the older Jinchuriki's almost made her regret her decision as soon as she said it.

"Why don't we talk about your brothers first then?"

And just like that Mito knew that her day would be a lot longer than she would like.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Finally finished this thing! The only thing I can say guys is that I apologize for taking so long. Like before college took most of my time, and what free time I had didn't allow me to do much.**

**Not my favorite chapter. Quite honestly I had to rewrite this way too many times. The finished product is not the best but at this point I just wanted to move along**

**Thank you all for your patience. I promise next chapters will be better. We're reaching the final chapters of this part of the fic. Plenty of action for those that want that will come very soon**

**Next Chapter: From Fire to Snow**

**I do have something special here though. A little preview of one of the next chapters… it's the least I can do for taking so long in updating**

**So here it is (if you don't want to be spoiled of anything then just don't read)**

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_He knew he couldn't win. His opponent was simply too much. He had thrown everything he knew at him and he just ignored all of it, all with the same sadistic smirk that told him he wasn't going to have a quick death_

_No! He refused to die here. Even if his enemy was on a completely different level he wouldn't die. He wouldn't lose!_

_Shakily he managed to stand up, even though his body was screaming at him to just rest. Well one part was, the other one was telling him to run as fast as he could. It was the same part that had made him freeze once he understood just how weak he was compared to this guy_

_To put it simple it was the part of him that was afraid_

"_Huh, I guess you aren't that much of a bitch if you managed to survive this far" the blonde man known as Zancrow said, a smirk on his face and a crazy glint on his red eyes. Black flames danced all around him, burning and destroying everything they touched_

_In response Naruto could only glare at the blonde man, his right hand leaving the bloody side of his body as he was now on his fighting stance, a glare of defiance still on his face_

_Zancrow just smiled wider before breaking into a laugh, his hands holding both sides of his body while the black flames that covered him suddenly disappeared. Heck even the threatening atmosphere had vanished too, and for that one second a little bit of hope finally set itself in the dragon slayer's heart…_

_But as soon as it appeared it was crushed, fur not a second later Zancrow's body exploded in black flames, covering him completely. You could barely see his body with the flames blocking him, but Naruto could clearly see the crimson red eyes of the man that promised nothing but suffering_

_Then he started laughing, a sound that made Naruto tremble. It was almost like the sound of a deranged beast. Acnologia had scared him too, but then he had his sensei on his side._

_But now he was alone_

"_Let me burn you in the flames of Tartarus!" was the only warning Naruto had before the flames moved to engulf him, something that the blonde knew would only end in one way_

_Death_


	26. Unstable Mind

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsus/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

**Chapter 24**

**Unstable Mind**

_Konoha's main hospital_

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, his face one of tiredness. The mage brought his right hand to his face in an attempt to shake off the sleepiness, his body moving to a more sitting position after a few seconds.

"I see you're finally back" a voice that the blonde recognized easily said, making Naruto to look to the side, his eyes meeting the stoic face of his sensei, Zeref.

"How long was I out?" was the first thing Naruto said, his voice coming out quite croaked.

"Two days. People were starting to worry" was Zeref simply answered.

"We need to talk" the blonde said with a demanding stare. It wasn't of him to demand things to his sensei but right now he _needed_ to have a serious discussion with the dark mage.

"Indeed we do" Zeref responded swiftly, his arms crossing over his chest "however right now there are more pressing matters I believe"

Naruto only had time to raise an eyebrow before the door of the room opened, by none other than the matriarch of the Uzumaki-Namikaze.

The presence of the woman made Naruto tense almost immediately, while Kushina had a shocked expression on her face at seeing her son finally up. That shocked expression quickly turned into a warm relieved smile. For a second it looked like the red-head was going to dash straight at Naruto, but as soon as she saw how tense he was she controlled herself, throwing a sad gaze at the blonde instead.

"I'm so glad" the woman said, completely ignoring that Zeref was still in the room. He was fine with this though, since he simply preferred to watch how this would play out "You had us all worried, Naru-kun"

A twitch from Naruto's right eye quickly showed his annoyance at her calling him like that. However for Zeref's surprise, who honestly expected a little bit less from Naruto, the blonde simply released a sigh before nodding towards Kushina with a neutral expression on his face.

"I'm awake now though" was the only thing Naruto said, earning two nods, a happy one from Kushina and a satisfied one from Zeref. It looked like he had underestimated his apprentice if he was able to be this calm in front of someone he hated as much as he did.

Something must have happened while the boy was out.

Not even a minute passed before another person entered the room, that person being none other than Kakashi. The man just gave Naruto one of his known eye-smiles before nodding politely to both Kushina and Zeref, the red-head being the only one to return the nod.

"I'm glad you finally woke up, Naruto-kun" the Jonin said lightly, his eye going to Zeref for just a brief moment before looking at Naruto once again "However we now need to hurry or else you'll be late for the promotion ceremony"

"Wait, what?!" Kushina said fiercely to Kakashi before Naruto could even react "He just woke up! You can't have him going around just now!"

"I'm sorry but sensei left quite clear that as soon either Naruto or Menma woke up we had to have the ceremony. It's has already been delayed too much" Kakashi said, who then looked at Naruto "Besides I'm sure that Naruto-kun here really wants to know if he passed or not"

It looked like Kushina was going to protest again but the voice of the younger person in the room stopped her.

"I'm fine" Naruto said with steel on his voice. Kakashi was right, he really wanted to know if he had become a Chunin or not. It was definitely better than just sitting in the hospital doing nothing.

"Let's give the boy a minute so that he can dress" Zeref finally said, earning a nod from Kakashi. Kushina hesitated for a second, but after looking at Naruto's eyes she finally let out a sigh before nodding.

"There are your clothes" Kushina pointed to a chair in which an exact copy of Naruto's clothes rested "Zeref-san was kind enough to get them for you"

Naruto just raised an eyebrow at the Jinchuriki. It looked like his sensei had really talked with the woman while he was out. That already made him a little bit nervous but he decided to not comment on it and wait for him and his sensei to be alone.

All three adults left the room soon after, making Naruto the only one there. The blonde was quick to dress, preferring his normal clothes a lot more than the hospital garb he was had been using.

Once dressed the blonde left the room, finding only Kakashi outside. Naruto looked around the hallway but there was no signal of either his sensei or the red-headed woman. There were other people moving around the place though, but he didn't care much about them.

"They both left" it looked like Kakashi had caught on Naruto's silent question since he suddenly explained with a shrug "Don't know where they went but they both left together. Kushina-san really wanted to talk to you though"

"I see" the mage answered neutrally, wondering where his sensei had wandered to. As far as he knew the dark mage wasn't one to tour around, so maybe he had gone back to the training room? He would have to go there after finishing his business then.

"Shall we go then?" Kakashi asked to which Naruto simply nodded. Not a second later had Kakashi grabed his shoulder and then the both disappeared in a _**Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Hokage's office_

Both Naruto and Kakashi appeared in a cloud of smoke, of course announcing their arrival to everyone in the place, which was a quite considerate amount of people.

"Naruto/Nii-san!" the blonde heard two voices call him as soon as he appeared, two voices that he easily recognized. It ended up being the raven-haired girl the one to reached him first, greeting the blonde with a sudden punch to his shoulder.

"That's for taking making us wait!" Sasuki said with a glare, leaving Naruto blinking without an idea to what to do

"I'm sorry…?" the blonde apologized, not even sure if he had to, but still doing it anyway. It looked like Sasuki was happy enough with that though, since her glare lessened to what Naruto considered was Sasuki's default stare.

"He just got out of the hospital and the first thing you do is to punch him?! What's wrong with you?!" for her part Mito openly voiced her complain, altering between glaring at Sasuki and giving Naruto a worried look. The Uchiha girl responded with a deathly glare herself, one that promised pain if the red-head even opened her mouth again.

Naruto was trying to think of a way to diffusing the situation, but luckily for him another voice did the work for him, one that he also recognized.

"How annoying" an almost sleepy voice spoke, said person being none other than Nara Shikamaru, who had walked around the two glaring girls and was now looking directly at Naruto with both hands on his pickets "You really like to 'cause trouble, don't you?"

Receiving nothing but a confused stare from Naruto, and also knowing that the blonde wasn't one to talk too much the shadow user simply released a sigh, muttering something under his breath that the mage wasn't able to hear.

"At least you're finnaly up" Shikamaru continued, his eyes going from Naruto to the two girls that were still focused on glaring at each other "Honestly visiting you at the hospital was such a hassle with this two hovering over you like you were about to die or something"

"You visited me at the hospital?" Naruto questioned, not really expecting something like that from the Nara. Sure he considered him a friend, but he knew they weren't that close and honestly he thought that Shikamaru only saw him as an acquaintance at best.

Shikamaru just gave the blonde a raised eyebrow, one of his hands going over to his head and scratching his hair.

"An idiotic blonde girl dragged me there against my will" Shikamaru explained, remembering how certain Yamanaka had practically pulled his arm off while dragging him to the hospital to visit the, her words here, blonde hunk "Seriously you blondes are so troublesome"

"I'm sorry…?" Again he wasn't really sure if he had to apologize, however it looked like Shikamaru _needed_ someone to apologize to him, so he might as well help his fellow Genin.

After that Naruto finally gave a real look to the room, noticing how Kakashi had moved to a side which basically hosted what looked like the whole group of Jonin sensei that his graduation group had gotten plus a couple more. He managed to recognize them, even if he didn't know all of their names. They all looked serious though, even the normally lax Kakashi or the weird looking guy that looked like an older copy of Lee.

Even Anko looked serious, although the image failed considerably the moment she gave him a small smile and a wink, which he decided to ignore in order to look keep looking around.

Just behind the little group that had formed around him were three other Genins which he remembered well. One of them was the girl that Sasuki had defeated on her first battle, Kurama Yakumo. Another one of the Genins was the heir of the Aburame clan, Aburame Shino, and finally the last one there was none other than he's first opponent in the exams, Hyuga Neji.

The blonde gave both Shino and Yakumo polite nods, which Shino returned in kind while Yakumo gave him a smaller one. His eyes then landed on Neji, and to be honest the blonde expected for the Hyuga to show some form of angriness towards him, but instead the only thing he got was another nod, which he returned swiftly.

Maybe he had underestimated the Hyuga?

A cough from behind the blonde brought not only his attention but also the attention of the other two Genins of team 7. As soon as Naruto turned around he was greeted by another pair of blue eyes, the pair belonging to the Hokage.

Both blondes look directly at each other's eyes, Naruto doing his best to keep as calm as he had been with Kushina before. Raijin had warned him after all. Whatever his own shadow had done to him it would probably act up if he let his mind wander to his most negative emotions, something that of course happened almost all the time he was in the presence of someone like Minato or Kushina.

The Hokage simply gave the group of Genins a raised eyebrow, apparently that being enough for them since they were quick to return to the formation that they had been before. The young blonde followed too just a second later, ending up in the left corner of the group just besides Sasuki.

All seven Genins looked straight at the leader of their village, all of them sporting a serious expression. Even Shikamaru had replaced his normally lazy one, knowing that this was an important moment.

It was now that Naruto noticed that there were three green vests in the desk just in front of their Kage. It was easy to guess that the vest were for those that earned the title of Chunin, so did that meant that only three had made the cut?

A part of him was conflicted about the whole promotion though. The biggest past of him wanted this promotion. He wanted the recognition that he _had_ gotten better. That he wasn't as useless as everyone once thought he was. That he wasn't just some death weight that had to be ignored.

He had trained. He had bleed and done his best to become this strong. His sensei gave him the chance and he did the best he could do with that, and he wanted to prove to everyone that he had _succeeded_.

But then there was that other small part of him, asking him a simple question. Why did he care? He wanted to show them all he had changed but _why_ did he care about their opinions? Whose approval was he looking for? The village? His peers? His _family_?

That last thought just made him shake his head slightly. There was only one person that he wanted his approval and he doubted he would be impressed by him winning a vest. The blonde looked at Sasuki by the corner of his eyes. The girl looked serious but Naruto could see the anxiousness that the Uchiha had. If there was someone that Naruto knew really wanted this was Sasuki, so he couldn't only hope that she was able to get the promotion.

That would certainly do wonders for her ego though.

"You seven" Minato finally spoke, bringing the blonde's attention once again to his Kage "represented Konoha during the Chunin Exams. Each one of you showed not only me but to everyone the strength that you will bring to the future of Konoha"

The Hokage looked straight at each of the Genin's eyes as he spoke, trying to read their reactions. He could clearly see the general nervousness one would expect, even though a few of them showed impressive calm, namely Neji, Shino and Naruto.

"However not all of you will be promoted this day" the man continued, his eyes now landing on the vests resting on his desk "as you might have already figured out only three of you will be promoted to the rank of Chunin"

"For those that don't get promoted I can only say that there is always next year. I have already talked to your senseis and they will discuss with you _why_ you weren't given the promotion, and for those that do get it I can only congratulate you and hope you keep making the village of Konoha proud"

"S-sorry to interrupt" Minato had to stop however, since it was at that moment that Mito decided to speak, gaining everyone's attention. The girl's cheeks flashed a healthy before she continued "Shouldn't we wait for Menma-nii-san for this?"

Ahh, now Naruto knew why he felt like something was missing. He didn't miss the blonde bastard that he was related to by blood mind you, but his lack of presence had been noticeable to the dragon slayer.

It explained why he wasn't imagining ways to kill the Jinchuriki without getting caught.

"We can't post-pone the ceremony any further sadly" Honestly Minato thought that it was better like this, after all he himself would have to talk about Menma and explain to him why he wasn't promoted "Don't worry though, since Menma-kun's result won't affect you at all"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that last statement, interested in what it really meant. Had Menma not made the cut? He couldn't say he was surprised honestly. The idiot might be stronger than a Genin but he would never be on a team with him as a leader.

He wasn't suicidal.

"Now back at the topic at hand" the blonde continued where he left off "Like I said I already talked to your senseis as to why you haven't been promoted, so they will be the ones to discuss this with you, so right now I will simply tell you who stood above the rest since I'm sure you all have better things to do" his last attempt to ease the tension actually made things worse but they couldn't say he didn't at least try.

The Kage's eyes moved to each Genin, staring at each of them right in the eyes. His gaze ended up stopping as soon as it landed in a pair of black eyes, which just blinked confusedly at this before releasing a sigh, knowing what it probably meant.

"Nara Shikamaru" Minato called, prompting the Genin to step up "You showed a strategically mind that even for those of your clan was truly impressing. You faced against an opponent that had the upper hand in almost everything, but you managed to outplay her. You showed the tactical thinking that a team leader needs, and for that I grant the rank of Chunin"

Every eye was on Shikamaru now. Some of the Genin were honestly shocked by the decision, especially Sasuki, who even though knew that Shikamaru was intelligent she simply thought he was too lazy to actually apply that brain of his for anything.

Shikamaru himself gave a side-glance to both his Jonin sensei, who simply gave him smiles and nods. The Nara just rolled his eyes before walking towards the desk and grabbing one of the vests. He expected it for a few seconds before giving a nod to his Kage, who returned it in kind with a small smile on his face.

The newly promoted Chunin moved to his spot on the line, his eyes glued to the vest with an intensity that most of the people had ever seen in the lazy Nara's eyes. Minato's smile widened a little bit, knowing that he had made the right choice.

One down, two more to go.

"Uzumaki-Namikaze Mito" Mito's attention, alongside everyone else's, had been on Shikamaru, so the girl had been severely unprepared for when the blonde spoke, prompting a little gasp on the girl who then set her eyes in front of herself and walked forward, a little blush forming on her face.

Minato couldn't help but to chuckle a little bit at that.

"You managed to reach the semi-finals, something that by itself is worth mentioning" The Kage continued in a serious tone "Through your fights you showed us all an incredible amount of skill in Kenjutsu, Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, and your overall performance simply told us all that Genin was not the rank for you, so now I grant you the rank of Chunin"

With a smile on her face the red-head moved and grabbed one of the vests, giving a last smile to her father, which he returned in kind, before giving a glance to both Anko and Kakashi. Said man gave her one of his eye-smiles while the snake mistress simply gave her a grin and a thump's up.

The last thing the red-head did before returning to her place was to give Naruto a smile, to which he just nodded mutely at, and a small smirk to the other girl of Team 7, who just gave her a glare in return.

Naruto for his part released a small sigh. He couldn't say he was really surprised by Mito becoming a Chunin. For as much as he disliked her he couldn't deny that the red-head was strong, and definitely smarter than her siblings.

Then again he was comparing her with Menma so it wasn't much of a compliment.

A few of the remaining Genins became even more tense since there was now only one more spot, but others simply accepted that they wouldn't get the promotion, since for a few of them it was obvious who the last person was.

Minato confirmed it not even a second later.

"Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto" Minato said, prompting said blonde to move forward, all eyes on him. His eyes were set firm once again on Minato's though, something that was mirrored by the older Namikaze.

"What is there to say that it isn't obvious already?" the Kage started slowly "Not only you won the tournament, but you showed skills and power far beyond of those of a Genin, alongside calmness in rather dangerous situations. Heck you could even say that Chunin is too low and that you have the strength of a Jonin" now that did surprised a lot of people there, but they couldn't deny that it was probably true.

Just the memory of what Naruto had summoned was enough to send shivers into everyone's spine.

"However I can't grant the rank of Jonin to someone with so little experience" Minato continued "But there's no doubt in my mind that you deserve this. I grant you the rank of Chunin"

Naruto took the offered vest, his eyes looking it over with rapt attention. He guessed that this should be a really prideful for him, but he didn't really feel anything special, and that annoyed him a little bit.

His hand inspected the vest, almost as if he was expecting an answer from it. Of course he got none, so he simply nodded mutely when Minato offered him a smile. The mage turned around in order to return to his place in line, his eyes going directly to the form of his raven-haired teammate.

Said Uchiha was looking down, her bangs covering her eyes. He could see her tremble a little bit, and her knuckles were practically white with how much strength she was putting on her fist.

Naruto knew that if not getting the promotion would affect someone, it would be Sasuki. He promised himself that he would talk to her as soon as this thing ended; knowing that leaving her alone right now was not an option.

"Well I'm sure all you have plenty of things to do. Those of you who are now a Chunin please remember that you will now be send on missions as team leaders. Not only is finishing the mission successfully your responsibility, but the lives of your teammates will also be on your shoulder" The Kage declared seriously "I wouldn't have given you the responsibility if I didn't believe you deserve it, so never doubt your worth"

"You're all dismissed!" Minato finished, prompting both the Genins and Jonins to start moving out. Naruto was about to do the same in order to speak to Sasuki, but Minato's voice stopped him on his tracks "Not you Naruto-kun. We need to talk" his words got a reaction from both Sasuki and Mito, which was followed by the Kage saying "Alone"

Naruto could only nod in response, his eyes narrowed in suspicious at the Hokage. He then tried to catch Sasuki with his eyes but the Uchiha had already moved out of the room, prompting a silent curse from the blonde.

"Nice job hot-shot" A person said as she moved by Naruto in order to leave, none other than Anko, who also offered him a grin. He just nodded at her, his mind somewhere else, prompting the Jonin to simply pout in response. The nerve of this generation!

"I knew you would make it!" this time it was Mito the one that congratulated him with a smile, to which he also nodded. It looked like the red-head wanted to stay or at least say more but she had no choice but to leave too.

A pat on his shoulder and an eye-smile was the only thing he got from Kakashi, but Naruto's eyes were still glued to Minato's own blue ones.

"Congratulation" now that did take Naruto's attention away from the other blonde. From all people there he definitely did not expect for Neji to actually talk to him. The Hyuga didn't even wait for a response and just left the room.

It took a few more seconds but in the end only Naruto and Minato remained inside. The older blonde was watching his son carefully from his desk while the mage simply stared suspiciously at the leader of the village.

"Is there something you need from me, Hokage-sama?" Naruto went straight to the point, wanting to go and find Sasuki as soon as possible. That and he had a feeling that he wasn't going to like this conversation.

"Indeed I do, Naruto-kun" Minato answered, knowing that this conversation will probably end up badly. It will certainly not give him any points with his son but he knew that this was long overdue "I don't know if he told you, but I had a conversation with Zeref-san about you"

"What did you talk about exactly?" Naruto asked slowly, honestly dreading the answer. He had already assumed that his sensei had done something like that but he was more than nervous about what Zeref might have told anyone. He didn't want to believe that his sensei would break his trust by revealing something that he shouldn't to someone like Minato, but a part of him couldn't stop worrying about it.

"He told me a lot" that was the only thing Minato said, prompting Naruto to curse in his head. Really? Now he didn't want to talk? "I don't know if what he said was true, but that made me realize that there is something I should have done a while ago"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at this, the bad feeling that was forming in the pith of his stomach becoming more prominent.

"Starting tomorrow you will begin to see a therapist, Naruto-kun" Minato said with a sigh, already knowing but dreading his son's response "I know you might not like it, but I trust the man with my life, and I'm sure he will be able to help y-" Naruto stopped hearing after that, his mind going over the implications of what Minato had just said.

What that some kind of sick joke? Naruto couldn't believe what the man had just said. A therapist? What the hell did Zeref told him?! No, he didn't care, he _didn't_ need a therapist. He was already treated like garbage before, so he would not accept people treating him as if he had some sort of mental disorder!

He was _fine_!

He could practicly hear Raijin's voice telling him to calm down, but none of that mattered to him right now. He didn't know towards who his anger was directed right now, if Minato or Zeref, but he was mad. His whole body was trembling, and even if he didn't know it his eyes suddenly turned golden.

He had been looking down by everyone for his entire life, and now that he was finally getting out of that hole Minato dared to pull something like this?!

Then in a movement that actually surprised Minato the blonde slammed his hand on his desk, almost breaking it with the amount of strength he had. Golden eyes glared at blue ones, openly showing just how he felt about this.

"I had a crappy childhood, big fucking deal!" the mages spats out, rage showing on his eyes while Minato looked calm, already expecting this "I don't need to see anyone, I'm fine, and I'm _not_ crazy!"

A part of the dragon slayer knew that he needed to calm down, but he just couldn't. Minato was crossing the line here and he knew he had some ulterior motive behind this, he just did. He would not let himself be manipulated by this man.

"I'm not saying you're crazy, Naruto-kun" Minato says calmly, silently wondering what the hell had Zeref done for his son's eyes to suddenly become golden yellow "But it's obvious that you have issues that need to be solved. I know you don't trust me, and I can only blame myself for that, but I'm doing this because I believe that is the best for you"

"So _now_ you care, huh?!" great, now he was saying stuff he shouldn't, but he had to admit that seeing Minato look down in shame was worthy enough. Naruto turned around swiftly, now wanting to do nothing more than to volt out of the room and break something.

"Wait!" before he could leave though he was stopped by the commanding voice of the Hokage, who was now standing up and looking at the younger blonde with firm determination "You might not respect me as your father, but I'm still the Hokage, you _leader_, and what I said was not a recommendation but an order. You will report here early tomorrow for your first session, _understood_?"

Minato hated to have to do this, but apparently he had no choice. He honestly thought this was the best for Naruto, especially if what Zeref told him was actually trust.

Kami he hoped it wasn't.

For his part Naruto could do nothing but to look back and glare at his _leader_. A part of him wanted to just ignore him and leave, but his rational part, the one that Zeref had spent years training, told him that he really didn't have a choice right now. He didn't like it, but if Minato said jump he had to jump.

"Do you understand?" Minato asked once again, this time with more steel on his voice.

"Crystal" Naruto said through gritted teeth, truly not noticing how both of his eyes were of a gold color.

"Good. You're dismissed then" Minato answered back, knowing that he needed to let his son to cool down.

Naruto didn't even think about it and just stormed off, wanting to go to a secluded place and blow off some steam. Sasuki and Zeref would have to wait a little bit, since he definitely didn't want for them to see him like this. Heck he might even do something he could regret.

Then again maybe his _sensei_ deserved some of that.

'**This is how it starts'** It was only at hearing a voice he recognized that the blonde stopped. He looked around, finding nothing but an empty hallway. That just made him angrier though, so with a snarl the blonde disappeared in a _**Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)**_

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile_

The young Uchiha of Team 7 was deep in thought, a deeper scowl than the one she wore usually present on her face. She was walking aimlessly through the village, her head down and her fist clenched.

To say she was pissed off would be an understatement.

She didn't get the promotion. She was still a Genin while others got to become Chunin. That was a strong blow to her pride. Naruto she could understand, after all if someone deserve it, it was him, even if she still was jealous of that, but Mito _and_ Shikamaru?!

Not only was that lazy bump now of higher rank than her, but that bitch was too?! She had lost her fight against her, and now she got the promotion instead of her?! Yes, her pride was wounded worse than it ever was.

She just wanted to rip off the smug smile that the red-headed bitch had worn after getting that stupid vest.

She was disappointed too though. She wanted to show everyone not only the strength of the Uchiha clan, but that she was worthy of being a part of them. She knew people had a lot of expectations for her, after all not only she was the daughter of the clan's heads, but she was also Itachi's little sister.

And to say that her brother had put the bar a little bit high would be an understatement. Of course she was proud of having him as a brother, and wanted nothing more than to one day be able to reach and surpass his level.

He wasn't the only one that she wanted to beat though, but right now her blonde friend and teammate looked as far away as her brother when it came to strength.

Hell just the idea of facing her family now made her anxious. She didn't want to look at the disappointment that she knew would appear in her father's eyes. Maybe her mother would be too but at least she would hide it. Her father? Oh he would make it quite clear.

She hated it.

With more frustration and anger appearing on her heart the black-eyed youth decided to do what she always do when she got stressed, which was of course training.

And it looked like her subconscious agreed with her, since she had been walking towards her team's training ground without even noticing it. With her objective in mind she quickly ran, reaching the place in a matter of minutes, however if she thought she would be alone there she was terribly mistaken.

'What the hell?' the Uchiha thought, looking at how destroyed the place looked like. There were craters and scorch marks everywhere, with trees either chopped down or destroyed. It was as if someone had a fight here or something.

"Oh? I was wondering who would be the first one to show up" a voice spoke from behind the girl, making her turn in order to see one of the senseis of her teams, Anko, standing there with her hands on her hips and a smile on her face.

"What's going on here?" Sasuki asked immediately, perplexed by the amount of damage the place had.

"Really? Not even a hello? I'm your sensei, you know? You kids should treat me better!" Anko answered while pouting, getting a growl of annoyance from the Uchiha. Honestly why was her whole team so annoying?! From Kakashi's lazyness to Menma's and Anko's behavior and Mito's just being a plain bitch.

Thank Kami Naruto was in the same team as her or she might have killed one of them already.

"Fine fine!" Anko continued with a huff, her arms crossing over her chest "Your boyfriend came here out of nowhere and started going ape shit on the place. I'm just keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn't go full stupid"

That was an abridge version of the situation to be honest. Kakashi had asked her to look over Naruto while he distracted Mito, apparently having a feeling that Naruto might not go out happy form his talk with his dad.

Angry was an understatement. The Jonin had never seen the blonde so pissed off. It was certainly quite the view considering just how composed he normally was.

Sasuki for her part had her eyes widened in shock. Naruto had done this? Why? He looked as normal as ever not even an hour ago! Great, now she regretted not waiting for him after he finished his talk with the Hokage. She should have known, especially considering the things Naruto had confided her.

"He's over there right now, still pretty angry" Anko then pointed to a direction in the trees that surrounded the training ground, and true to her words Sasuki could see lighting going off at that direction. Without even turning to the Jonin the Uchiha dashed towards the place, obvious worry showing on her eyes.

"Honestly the kids of today" Anko said with a shake of her head, watching how Sasuki moved to where Naruto was.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_With Naruto_

Golden eyes glared at everything on his sight, electricity moving around his body, a scowl set firmly on his face. The ground around him was all but burnt, he was practically standing in a clearing with how much he had destroyed, with plenty of trees either destroyed completely or cut in half.

To say that he was angry would be an understatement. He honestly had never felt this angry before, not only for what Minato had ordered him to do but the implications of it.

The fact that his _leader_ set him up with a psychiatrist as if he was insane was bad enough of course. Why couldn't that man just ignore him like before? He honestly would prefer that so much right now.

He wasn't crazy. He didn't need any sort of _help_, especially from someone like Minato. The only thing he needed was for him and his family to back off.

However that wasn't the worst. No, what truly angered Naruto was what Minato had implied. He had talked as if he knew _everything_ that had happened to him when he was a kid, and the implications of that were what set Naruto off so much.

It wasn't that hard to get to a conclusion. If Minato really knew then someone must have told him since he doubted the man could ever find out by himself with how much attention he had on the people of the village, but who? Who could have told him?

Naruto had never talked about it with anyone until he talked with Sasuki a couple of days ago. Besides her she had never revealed anything to anyone, not even Zeref.

He had thought about doing it in the past of course, but every time he did just the thought of his sensei looking disappointed at him made him stop. He didn't want to show his sensei how weak he had been so he never told him.

But what if the man already knew? It wouldn't be so surprising, considering how he acted as if he knew everything. If that was true then he was glad and upset, glad that Zeref never really mentioned anything and upset at what he might have told Minato.

Just the thought of his sensei, the person he trusted and admired the most, revealing those kinds of things to someone like Minato was more than enough to put him in his current state. It was the situation with Haku all over again.

But it was worse. Haku had been a complete stranger, albeit one that he had found pleasantly friendly. Zeref was like a father to him, but every action the man make made him so confused that he didn't know what to believe at this point.

He needed to find him and get answers, but first he needed to break some stuff.

"Oi! Naruto!" A sudden yell got the blonde's attention just before he could start again though, a voice he recognized perfectly. The blonde turned around, golden eyes instantly meeting the black ones of his teammate and best friend.

As soon as Sasuki reached the blonde her eyes went wide for more than one reason. First was the amount of destruction Naruto had made. She wasn't surprise he could do something like that, he was just shocked that he _actually_ did, after all Naruto was not one to make a ruckus like this.

The other reason, and it honestly almost made her flinch back as soon as she saw it, was the pair of golden eyes that Naruto was now sporting. Not only did they look worrisome, but the anger behind them was more than obvious to her.

She had never seen Naruto this angry, and that was saying something, especially considering how controlled he normally was. Of course if someone had reasons to be angry it was Naruto, but for something to set him off like this? It must be big, and that instantly worried her a lot.

"Sasuki?" the blonde questioned, not expecting to see the Uchiha here of all places. Then again this was their training ground.

"Naruto…what happened to your eyes? What's going on?!" Sasuki questioned, a frown plastered on her face. In response the mage just frowned too, not understanding her question.

With a quick move he took out a kunai, using the reflection on the object to look at his own eyes. The shock of seeing them of the same color as his shadow was enough for him to drop the knife and give a step back, a gasp escaping his lips.

What the hell was happening to him?! Was this caused by his shadow while he was unconscious? That was the only explanation he could come up with, and just thinking about it made him feel sick.

Sasuki for her part was now worried than ever. It was something to see Naruto so angry, but now he looked like he had seen a ghost. Sasuki had never seen an expression like that on him, and the worst thing was that she didn't know what to do.

However when Naruto started walking slowly away from her she did the only thing that came to her head. It was an old trick, something that her mother used to do whenever she became distressed about something. She didn't know if it would work but damn if she wasn't at least try to calm the blonde down.

So with a quick movement she grabbed her face, forcing his widened eyes to look down at her own, however instead of black Naruto found himself looking at the slowly spinning tomoes of the Sharingan.

"It's ok…" she tried her best soothing voice, even though she had never talked like that to be honest, but Naruto obviously needed her right now.

The mage couldn't help but to look at the red eyes of the girl, the slow movement of the tomoes getting his focus. It was practically hypnotic, and if it was any other person he would have pushed them off already, but this was Sasuki.

After a few minutes it looked like the Uchiha's action were working. The blonde was slowly calming down, with his breathing evening down, his shacking stopped and his eyes went from wide to half-lidded.

The fact that his eyes also went back to his dark blue color was also a very good signal, and in just a few more seconds Naruto closed his eyes completely, his breathing becoming slower. Sasuki couldn't help but to smile, happy that she had this effect on Naruto.

"Feeling better now?" the Uchiha asked, making the blonde open his eyes to look at her own, which were back to her normal black.

"Yeah" the blonde whispered, feeling the fury that had taken his mind disappearing. Oh he was still pretty angry, but paying it on a bunch of trees wouldn't help him.

"Thank you" Naruto continued, honestly thankful of the girl. He had been thought to control his emotions, so going wild like that was something he simply didn't like.

"Well someone has to make sure you don't destroy our training area" Sasuki responded with a smirk before blinking, finally realizing how close Naruto's face was to her.

"Anyway!" she yelled while pushing Naruto away from her, her cheeks going pink. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the blonde "Just what the hell happened that made you want to re-decorate the place anyway?"

In response Naruto simply looked to the side while glaring. As soon as Sasuki saw that she decided that she would have none of that, she was really tired of her blonde friend playing all mysterious around her, especially if it was something that upset him so much.

She also really wanted to know about his eyes, but one thing at the time.

"Do I have to beat the answers out of you?!" she growled loudly, earning a wide stare from the dragon slayer, which made her release a sigh in frustration "Look, I understand if you don't want to tell me, but I think I already left clear that you can tell me anything, and sometimes it's better if you just let it out of your chest so…"

"I know that" he answered quickly "Just… I promise I'll tell you about it later, I just have to deal with some stuff first" he said sincerely. He wanted to tell her, yes, but he also wanted to confront his sensei first.

"Fine" the Uchiha answered, a sudden idea coming to her head. She was a little nervous about it, but if that got the answer she wanted while also keeping both her parents under control then she was all for it "Then you will tell me tonight. Okaa-sama told me to invite you for dinner, remember?"

Naruto blinked confusedly to that, honestly not expecting such an invitation. He did remember Sasuki's mom saying something like that, but having dinner with her whole family?

That would certainly be a new experience. He honest to Kami couldn't remember a single time he had watched his sensei eating, so he normally ate alone.

"Get at my house at seven, don't be late" the black-haired girl continued without even waiting for his response, and then she warned with a glare "Got it? You better not bail me out on this" of course she knew Naruto was not one to do that.

"Alright… I think" he confirmed with a nod before walking towards the girl, a hand reaching her shoulder "And Sasuki? Thank you… I really mean it" he said while looking at her eyes, the sheer sincerity in his blue ones forcing Sasuki to look away with a huff.

"Whatever, just leave before I change my mind!" and with a small smile the blonde left in a swirl of leafs, thinking of ways to finding his sensei. He had apparently left with Kushina of all people so he just needed to find her.

A sudden idea came to his mind, and he could already feel his wallet becoming lighter.

Sasuki ended up just standing there alone, fighting down the blush that had formed on her face. Honestly what the hell?! She was getting tired of getting these reactions from him! And the blonde bastard was probably not even doing it on purpose!

She would punish him as soon as she could

"You should have kissed him, you know? What a wasted opportunity" the sudden voice of Anko whispered on her ear, earning a yelp and another blush from the Uchiha, who quickly turned around to find the smirking snake summoner standing there.

Oh how she loved to tease this kids.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile_

"Natsumi-chan, I think that's enough for today…" Mito said with an awkward chuckle, once again wondering where all that ramen went. Honestly how could this girl eat so much?!

"But Onee-chan! I'm still hungry!" the younger girl pouted, looking up at her sister with the cutest look she could muster "Just one more, please!"

"…alright, but just one more bowl" the Jinchuriki said with a sigh, not being able to deny anything to her little sister, especially when she gave her that kind of look.

In response Natsumi simply cheered before ordering another bowl of ramen, earning a smile from the older red-head. At least Kakashi had been kind enough to leave a little bit of money before suddenly leaving, or else the newly ranked Chunin would have to spend way more than she would have liked.

That thought made her frown though, something that Natsumi didn't notice since she was so focused on eating. Kakashi wanting to celebrate the fact that she got the promotion wasn't really weird, but why not invite Naruto too? She would have really liked to talk with her Nii-san, which was why she had tried to wait for him, but Kakashi had insisted on taking her out to eat.

And no surprise Natsumi had been brought along too. Not that she minded of course, after all she loved to spend time with her imouto, but she would still have preferred for her whole team to be here.

Except Sasuki of course.

She also wondered why Kakashi had left so abruptly. He had just said that something came up and left, almost in a hurry. Oh well, she would have to find Naruto later then, and apparently Natsumi was really good with that, at least if what the young girl told her was true.

"Ah! Onii-chan!" a sudden happy yell from her sister took the red-head's attention, with Natsumi now pointing to something just behind her, making her turn around quickly, her eyes going wide in surprise at seeing who was now standing there.

"Nii-san" the girl whispered, her eyes meeting Naruto's dark blue, who just raised an eyebrow in response. When he had thought of coming here he expected to just find Natsumi alone, not with Mito of all people.

Then again he guessed it wasn't that surprising.

However it ended up being Natsumi the one that made the first move, with the girl quickly leaving her seat and moving towards the blonde.

"Onii-chan you did it! Onee-chan said you're a Chunin!" the young girl cheered, looking up at the mage with no little amount of admiration on her eyes. Naruto could do nothing but to look confusedly at her, not expecting at all that kind of response.

"So you told her" Naruto focused his attention on Mito though.

"W-well she kept asking…" she answered uncertainly, noticing how the blonde looked a lot more on edge than usual, which was saying something.

"Where's Kakashi anyway? Wasn't he with you?" deciding to take advantage of finding Mito too the blonde asked, thinking that Kakashi might also know where Kushina and Zeref were.

"He just left… apparently he had something important to do" Mito answered with a frown, wondering how Naruto knew about Kakashi being here with her.

"Oi! Don't ignore me!" for her part Natsumi couldn't help but to feel left out of the conversation, something that she obviously didn't like at all.

However if Naruto heard her at all he made no signs of it.

"Do you know where your mother is then?"

"Okaa-san?" Mito said surprised, never expecting for Naruto of all people to ask about their mother "Maybe she's at home but I don't know… sorry" she ended, getting a frown from the mage.

There was no way he was steeping a foot in that house, especially if Kushina being there wasn't certain.

It looked like he would have to go with his original plan then.

However Naruto's right eye twitched as soon as he felt some pain on his right foot. He looked down and glared at Natsumi, who was now grinding her on foot over his with a glare of her own.

"Stop it" the blonde warned, honestly not having enough patience to deal with her like this right now.

"Make me!" the girl shot back while sticking her tongue out, increasing Naruto's twitching.

"Didn't someone teach you to not act so…rude?"

"Says the one that was just ignoring me!"

"I wasn't ignoring you…" the blonde answered "I just didn't want to strain my neck with how small you are"

"I'm not small!"

"This height" the blonde continued, putting his arm to the same level as his shoulder "Tell me that once you reached this, pipsqueak"

Naruto got a growl in response, the girl now practically jumping over his foot with a pout on her face. In other occasion he might have seen this as cute, but now wasn't the time for that.

For her part Mito saw the scene with widened eyes, honestly being shocked by what she was seeing. When had Natsumi and Naruto become so close? She knew that her little sister could bring the best in everyone but this was too fast!

A set of emotions passed through her heart at seeing this: Happiness, jealousy and hope. She wondered if things would have been like this if her family had never pushed Naruto away.

A smile appeared on her face, followed by a giggle that got the attention of the other two Uzumakis.

"You two look really cute together" the jinchuriki said, prompting owlish blinks from both her siblings, then getting a triumphant smile from Natsumi and a glare from Naruto, who then coughed, trying to get the conversation back on its track.

"Natsumi" he called, getting the girl's attention "You know where Kushina is, correct?"

The girl blinked up at him, her eyes then looking everywhere, almost as if she could find Kushina just standing there. Then she closed her eyes, looking like she was deep in thought. Both Naruto and Mito immediately figured out what she was doing, Naruto since he was the one to discover her ability and Mito since her sister had told all of her family about it.

She also told them how her 'cool Onii-chan!' had helped her out with it.

After almost a couple of minutes the young girl opened her eyes wide, a grin appearing on her lips. She then looked up at Naruto with a glint on her eyes that Mito recognized quickly.

Naruto didn't though.

"Hm!" the girl nodded "I know where Kaa-chan is!" she announced proudly.

Then there was silence, with nothing more that the sound of people walking by being heard. Naruto of course could feel the stares that he got from them, but he was already way too used to it. Instead his attention was on Natsumi, waiting for the girl to move along the conversation.

"Where is she then…?" Naruto asked slowly, now honestly thinking the girl might be stupid or something, since the only thing she did for a whole minute was to look up at him with that same annoying smirk.

"I don't feel like telling you!" the youngest red-head declared triumphantly quickly.

And just as quickly a hand chopped her on her head, courtesy of a glaring Naruto, making the girl to rub her head in pain.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" the blonde said while slowly counting backwards in his head, doing his best to stay calm

"That will teach you to not ignore me!" the girl yelled at him while still rubbing her head "and now I'll never tell you, bully Onii-chan! Baka Onii-chan!" the young Uzumaki was now slamming her small fists on Naruto's leg like a quick barrage, in an attempt of getting back at him for hitting her.

She was actually succeeding though. Not because her punches hit hard or anything, but mostly because her actions were starting to make Naruto wonder if all of this was worth it.

He sent a look to Mito, one that practically ordered her to deal with what could only be described as annoyance given a human form. In response he just got an apologetic chuckle from his teammate.

"Stop!" he ordered while putting a hand over the young girl's head. The girl actually complied, with a pout directed at him. The blonde closed his eyes and took a deep breath, knowing he would hate what he was about to do, and knowing it would bring way too many consequences in the future, but he would let Naruto of the future to deal with that, because the one from the present was really close to just burn the Uzumaki-Namikaze house down just to make Kushina appear.

"What will it take me for you to tell me where she is?" he continued slowly, now looking down at the girl. In response she stopped pouting and blinked at him for a few seconds before a big smile appeared on her face. She then made a movement with her hand, practically telling him to get closer to her, so he did, the girl moving closer to his ear in order to tell him her demand.

Now Mito was not a psychic. She couldn't read minds so she didn't know what Natsumi had just whispered to their brother, but once thing was plainly obvious, and it was that whatever it was he didn't like it at all.

"No" he rejected her proposition immediately.

"Then you can find Kaa-chan without me!" the girl shot back while crossing her arms over his chest.

Once again Naruto wondered if this was worth it. Maybe he could just wait for Zeref to appear? Then again if the man was now going to walk around the village then who knows how long it would take him. Not only that but the man was with Kushina of all people, and the last thing he needed was him telling her even more stuff that he shouldn't.

"Very well" he finally answered through gritted teeth, his pride being hurt by the little girl that had practically toyed with him. He made a mental note to not underestimate her again.

There wasn't enough patience in this world that would allow him to deal with this crap again anyway.

Natsumi cheered, her right fist going up and a big grin on her face. Mito didn't know what had just happened, but a new feeling of appreciation for her little sister appeared on her heart. Maybe she would be the one that would save their family after all?

"Well? Where is she?" Naruto questioned once again, wanting to leave since he had already made his pact with the devil.

"Right! Let's go, Onii-chan!" the girl chirped happily just before grabbing his hand and practically dragging him out of the place. Mito quickly left enough money for the food and followed her two siblings, not wanting to miss this at all.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**Slow chapter I know, not much happening here, but plenty of set up for the future. This chapter was going to be a lot longer, and in fact it would end with the introduction of Koyuki and the Snow movie arc, but I decided to cut it here in order to finally update.**

**I hope Naruto's mood swings didn't look too OOC. Saying he is mentally unstable right now would be a good way of putting it to be honest.**

**Also I know you want to know everyone's reaction and thoughts about Naruto know, and that will come soon don't worry**

**Thank you all for keeping up with me, especially with how long I take to update. I can't promise the next one will be quicker, so I can only promise to try.**

**Next Chapter: Cold decisions, warm connections**


	27. Hard Lessons

"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

**"Acnologia"** Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's speech

'**Kurama' **Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other being's thoughts

_**"Rasengan"**_ Techniques/Spells/Jutsus/Terms

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners**

**AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

**Chapter 25**

**Hard Lessons**

Nara Shikamaru was deep in thought, something that was certainly not easy with how much noise there was around him, but there was so much stuff on his head that he wasn't even able to say how annoying all of that was.

His eyes were focused on the green vest that was resting on his lap, which basically told everyone he was a Chunin now. He had yet to wear it though, even with the insistence of the rest of his team.

Speaking of them they were all sitting together besides him, chatting loudly with one another. They weren't the only ones here though, since the other team from his graduation class that wasn't filled with stupidly strong Genins was also there.

So pretty much everyone he knew besides Team 7 was here, talking and eating. They were all sitting around a table with a grill, waiting for more food to be cooked. This wasn't the first time they had come to a restaurant like this of course, so Shikamaru was already used to the hassle.

All of this had been both of his sensei's idea, who wanted to celebrate his promotion. Of course the rest of his team had followed quickly, and somehow they found the other team here already, so they all decided to eat together.

Shikamaru would have preferred to go to his home of course, but he didn't have much of a choice to be honest. His team had the tendency to drag him everywhere after all.

"What's with you, Shika? You've been spacing out a lot today!" a question directed at him took the former Genin out of his thoughts, his eyes meeting the ones of his teammate and childhood friend, Yamanaka Ino, who had apparently stopped talking to their other teammate, Haruno Sakura, in order to ask him that.

The way they were seated meant they were close, so he could easily hear her even with the noise. She was just besides him, with Sakura, Hinata and Yakumo on that side. On the other side there was Kiba sitting beside him with Choji and Shino. After them came the Jonin senseis, with Asuma sitting besides Genma and facing both Kurenai and Yugao, all four of them chatting normally with each other.

Instead of answering her question Shikamaru just brought his look down once again, his brow furrowed a little bit. His mind right now was focusing on two things, the first one being just exactly how many problems would this promotion bring. Of course everyone else thought it was good and all, but for him it only meant more job, and worse of it he would be now responsible for the safety of whoever was sent in a mission with him.

Before he had his senseis to rely on, but now he was supposed to be the leader.

How troublesome.

His other thoughts were a little bit different, and they were related to the blonde that he guessed he could call friend, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. Now that boy was an enigma on itself, one that Shikamaru found way too troublesome to try to decipher at this point, but there was something that had been nagging him every since he saw it in the Chunin Exams.

It was something that honestly sent shivers down his spine just by thinking about it. He knew Naruto was strong but what the hell had been _that_?! He thought watching a real Bijuu had been scary, but that thing that Naruto brought a few minutes later had been far worse.

He hated to admit it, but he honestly feared Naruto a little bit. He knew it was illogical since that blonde wasn't one to abuse his powers but… whatever he had summoned was just something no Genin should be able to use.

Of course he knew about summons, but he had never heard of anything like what Naruto had called. He had tried to find information about it on his own, but nothing he found matched the descriptions. The best he got were some old legends about _dragons_ of all things.

As if. Even his father told him dragons were nothing but legend, and while Naruto might have a thing for doing the impossible, actually finding something like that was too much, even for him, but then, what was that thing?

He released a sigh. He didn't want to bother his senseis with this but he apparently had no other choice. He doubted they could tell him something he didn't know already though, since not even his father knew about that monster.

The black-haired teen raised his head, his eyes meeting Ino who looked like she was about to yell at him or something. She stopped as soon as she saw the frown on his face though, since it was weird to see Shikamaru so serious.

The Nara ignored the laugh that Kiba was releasing and instead gave the only other boy even more silent than him, Aburame Shino, a signal to get Asuma's attention, since the bug user was the closest to the Jonin.

Shino nodded and tapped Asuma on his shoulder, interrupting his talk with Kurenai. The bearded man gave Shino a curious glance, who in response just pointed at Shikamaru, making both Nara and Sarutobi to lock eyes.

"What is it, Shikamaru?" the man spoke, actually gaining everyone's attention. The other Genins looked between the two, while the Jonin just gave Shikamaru curious gaze

"Sensei…" Shikamaru said seriously, something that surprised a few there that weren't used to it "what was that thing Naruto summoned?"

And just like that the whole table was thrown into silence, and Shikamaru could easily see how pretty much everyone there tensed as soon as he asked that, probably in memory of that creature.

"Y-yeah" surprisingly it was Ino the one that spoke first "What was that thing? It was really scary" the girl shuddered after saying that, her right hand rubbing her left arm.

"Oh c'mon, it wasn't _that_ scary" Kiba said, but Shikamaru could detect the fake bravado from a mile away.

"It defeated a Bijuu like it was nothing" Shino said neutrally, his gaze directed at Kiba "Otou-sama even compared it to the Kyubi, saying it felt just as evil, if not worse"

His words left the whole table in a tense silence, the Jonins there understanding the similarities between the Kyubi attack years ago and the apparition of that monster a few days ago while the Genins were deep in thought, not knowing what to believe of someone of their age having such a power.

All of them had been impressed by Naruto's strength. They knew of course he was strong but seeing him fight they way he did it was obvious in their heads that he would get the Chunin promotion.

However they still remember the feeling that swept over them as soon as that black monster appeared. It was like killing intent, only that much worse.

Heck a few of them had actually passed out in fear, not that Kiba would ever admit that of course. Seeing Menma transformed had been scary, and seeing the gigantic sand tanooki had been terrifying, but that black winger monster?

Some of them still had nightmares about it.

Their parents had talked to them though, doing their best to calm them down, telling them that the Hokage wouldn't let his son use something that could harm the village and that he had practically saved who knew how many people from the Shukaku.

One of them was certain of something though.

"I-I don't think it's that bad…" a quiet voice spoke, everyone's eyes suddenly failing on Hinata, who looked down in trepidation at becoming the center of attention "I-I mean, if is Naruto-kun then… it can't be that bad… he wouldn't let it be…I'm sure of that"

Plenty of the people sitting there just looked surprised at the girl, not used to see her talking so much like that. There was this conviction on her voice that some of them had never heard, however both Kurenai and Yugao smiled slightly, happy to see the Genin coming out of her shell, even if it was slowly.

"Oh?! Is Hinata crushing on the dark, mysterious boy that saved her?!" Ino couldn't help but to say with a smirk on her face, getting a massive blush from the lavender-haired girl, who was now trying to become as small as possible.

"As if you're one to talk! I'm surprised you didn't try something when he was asleep in the hospital" It was actually Sakura the one that talked next, getting a glare from her blonde friend, which the pink-haired Genin simply met with a smirk.

"It's not like any of you have a chance anyway…" the last female Genin muttered while trying to go back to eating. However she stopped once she felt the intense look Ino was giving her, while Hinata was not-so-subtlety stealing glances at her in confusion.

"And what exactly do you mean by that, Yakumo?" the Yamanaka heiress said with a glare, not liking what she had suggested.

She was Yamanaka Ino, the hottest girl in her graduation group. If someone had a chance with him then it was definitely her!

"Want to bet they'll start fighting?" Kiba for his part whispered to Chouji, getting a small chuckle from the large teen. However it looked like he didn't spoke low enough since Ino's glare was then sent towards him for just a second before going back to Yakumo.

"Isn't he dating Sasuki or something? Those two are really close" the Kurama heiress said as if it was obvious.

In response Ino simply snorted before crossing her arms over her chest. Sasuki? Please, that girl wouldn't know romance even if it tried to kill her.

"As if that girl knew anything about romance anyway…"

The Jonins looked at the scene with smiles, happy that the spirits of their Genin was improving. Some of them had really been down for not becoming Chunin while others were still affected by what had happened at the finals, but seeing them like this made the Jonins truly happy.

They were after all truly fond of their teams, and wanted nothing more to see them grow up in the future.

"Shikamaru" it was Asuma who spoke once again, gaining the attention of the shadow user "If it makes you feel better I'm sure Hokage-sama would never allow or teach one of his sons something that could potentially harm the village"

"Is not about power… but how you use it that matters…" Genma continued between coughs, doing his best to sooth the worry off the Genins.

While the Jonins showed a confident front on the outside, they couldn't deny that the power displayed by Naruto on the exams had shocked them a lot. They knew that the blonde was strong, his fight with Rock Lee had perfectly proved that, but they had no idea that he had control over such a terrifying beast as the one he had summoned.

Of course they had tried to get answers from Kakashi and Anko, but both senseis of Team 7 had simply answered that Naruto's training had been handled by someone else. It was obvious for the rest of the Jonins that they were hiding something, but it wasn't like they could demand answers from them.

Besides considering the damage that the Shukaku could have done to the village they couldn't help but to be grateful at Naruto from stopping it.

The question remained in their heads though. From where had Naruto obtained that kind of power? It wasn't the only skill that shocked them, his apparent ability to absorb lightning jutsu was a whole other theme that all of them had discussed.

In the end they had simply assumed that it was something the Hokage had taught to his son, even if they still felt that something was missing.

The rest of the table once again was filled with noise, the previous heavy atmosphere apparently gone thanks to the Jonin's reassurance, however Shikamaru couldn't help but to look down once again, knowing that something didn't add up here.

If Naruto was already this strong then… how strong would he actually become in the future?

"Troublesome blonde" the Nara whispered, now more glad than ever than Naruto was on their side.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile_

Two figures walked aimlessly through the streets of Konoha, people immediately recognizing and bowing slightly in respect at one of the figures, while looking at the other in confusion and wariness.

The figures were completely different too. One with striking red hair and violet eyes while the other one had hair and eyes as black as they could be, making people that passed them wonder if he was a member of the Uchiha clan. They had never seen one wearing those types of clothes though.

The two figures were Uzumaki Kushina and the dark mage Zeref.

The former Jinchuriki's original plan was to simply wait for Naruto and then accompany him to the promotion ceremony. Of course there was no doubt in her head that Naruto, and probably Mito too, had made the cut, even if her husband wanted to be all secretive about it.

What he had told her though was that there was no way Menma was getting the promotion, and she understood why. While she loved her son dearly, she couldn't deny that what he had done has been foolish and stupid. Not only using the Kyubi's powers was something dangerous already, but he had unleashed way more than what they knew he could control!

That had been extremely dangerous for both him and Naruto. As soon as she had seen that she had wanted to do nothing but to jump in there and stop the fight, fearing what could happen to both her sons, but she knew that she couldn't.

If it wasn't for Itachi acting as referee she would have probably done it though, but she knew that the Uchiha prodigy would be able to stop Menma if things ended badly.

However that ended up not being necessary since Naruto actually defeated Menma, even thought the latter was using three tails worth of the Kyubi's chakra. That alone showed just the difference in strength that both blondes had.

The woman looked to her left, her eyes failing on the man that was obviously responsible for that. She still had a hard time processing that in her head though, to find out that this complete estranger had trained Naruto to the point that he could beat Menma like that, someone that had been trainer by not only her, but by Minato, Jiraiya and even Kakashi too.

How strong was this man? That's something that plagued the red-head's mind ever since he revealed who he was. Not only that but the things he had apparently taught Naruto were completely new to her. She had never really seen or heard of techniques like that.

The man saying that it was a set of techniques from an old lost clan just made it even more mysterious.

However what had shocked the woman the most had to be the beast that Naruto had summoned. Not only because it reminded her of the Kyubi, or because her son had summoned something so strong, which also brought question about if Zeref could summon beings even stronger than the one Naruto had called, but because the creature felt awfully…familiar to the woman.

She couldn't understand why. She didn't remember ever seeing something like that, but as soon as her eyes had landed on it she had felt both dread and nostalgia. Almost as if she was seeing the visage of an old friend…

But that was impossible, she knew that. It was honestly another thing that she wanted to ask Zeref about, which was why when he had offered to talk to her in private she had accepted. Then again she could feel the ANBU following them both, so this wasn't really private already.

They had done nothing but walk for a while, the man apparently content enough with the silent while she pondered exactly what to ask him. In the end she had decided to go with the hardest question first, even if she dreaded the answer a lot.

"Was it really true?" the woman questioned, earning the mage's attention, who simply looked at her "What you said before… what happened to Naruto-kun… was it all of that really true?"

Zeref just looked at her, noticing the sincere emotion that the woman was displaying. That didn't confuse him anymore of course, after all Alcor had already spilled everything to him.

"Humans are despicable beings" the man answered, taking his eyes away from the red-head "They're capable of doing the most horrible things, even towards the innocent… and Naruto-kun was a victim of that"

Humans were emotional beings, and there wasn't an easier emotion to succumb to like hate. Hate could be born from the most simpler and irrational things. It might have been Alcor the one that played with everyone as if they were puppets, but if what Alcor had said was true then those people already had that resentment in their hearts, Alcor simply brought it to the outside.

The former jinchuriki looked down, her whole body shacking. A part of her didn't want to believe what Zeref was saying, but she knew it was probably true. Not only did she remember Naruto mentioning something like that before, but it also explained a lot.

She felt sick. She now wanted to do nothing more than to hunt down anyone that even thought of harming her baby boy. She could feel the people smiling at her as they passed but she wanted to do nothing more but to get rid of those smiles.

It was as if they were mocking her, taunting her. Reminding her of how much of a failure of a mother she was.

But she couldn't, at least not right now. She had to make sure without a doubt of what had happened and who had done it. It was Jiraiya the one that was looking for information on that, however she might have to start her on search, after all the Sannin was also busy with looking for any type of information about the man besides her.

Even if they were in debt with him as he had taken care of Naruto that didn't change the fact that Zeref was a dangerous unknown factor. The man had been able to train Naruto just under everyone's noses, and if Naruto's current strength proved something was that Zeref was no ordinary man.

They needed to make sure he wasn't a danger to the village, or to Naruto himself.

"Sometimes" the dark haired man continued "Is better to simply give up. Naruto-kun has already make his intentions clear after all"

At hearing that Kushina's gaze moved so quickly to meet Zeref's that it was a miracle her neck didn't snap right there, and Zeref ended up facing a glare with so much heat it would had any lesser man quivering in fear.

He simply raised an eyebrow at her though, silently challenging her to prove him wrong. He honestly couldn't care less about the woman, but just like with every other thing he did the dark mage wasn't one to leave anything to luck, and as long as she could in somehow affect his apprentice he would deal with her.

"Never!" the red-head spat out, and for a second there Zeref could swear her eyes actually flashed red. People around them looked at them in surprise because of the Uzumaki's outburst.

"Is it worth? All the pain, just to make amends with Naruto-kun?" he asked, even though the answer was obvious to him at this point.

"Always" the woman answered just as fiercely as before, and this time there wasn't much Zeref could say back, after all he himself understood her perfectly.

He had felt the exact same way a long time ago after all. He had wanted nothing more but to make amends with his brother, to earn his forgiveness even if it took him an eternity of suffering. He didn't feel like that anymore though, and the reason for that was simple.

He didn't deserve any type of forgiveness.

Their situations were different though. He had made his own sins, while Kushina and the rest of her family had been nothing but victims of a bigger power.

If he was a better man he could try and fix this. With the amount of influence he had over Naruto he _knew_ that he could help this family, but he wasn't. Doing so could put a stop on his plans, and if what Alcor had said was true he didn't have the time for that.

He might be in a different world, but he was the same monster that had turned his own brother in _that._

The black mage broke the staring contest this time, looking not at the front but actually behind him, the feeling of certain someone approaching being the reason for that.

Kushina's eyes went from anger to confusion, her eyes following Zeref's gaze, the result being a scene that not honestly made her eyes go wide in shock but also practically melted her heart, a smile appearing on her face.

Her little sunshine, Natsumi, was practically dragging Naruto by his hand, a big smile on the younger girl's face, while Naruto sported a frown even though he was doing nothing to stop the girl. Just behind them was Mito, doing her best to keep up with her two siblings.

"Think of my words" Zeref suddenly spoke, his eyes focused on the approaching figure of his apprentice "You already lost a part of your family, don't let that destroy what's left of it"

Kushina was about to retort to that, but a sudden cry, coming from Natsumi, took her attention away. The girl had apparently spotted her, alongside Mito and Naruto, and the three were now moving towards her and Zeref.

While Natsumi sported a smile Mito had a worried frown on her face, her eyes going from Kushina to Zeref. However it was Naruto's expression the one that surprised her the most. He was sporting a powerful glare, which considering her interactions with him wasn't that weird, but the fact that the glare was directed at Zeref and not at her honestly surprised her.

"Kaa-chan!" the youngest of the group yelled just before embracing her mother, earning a smile from her "I brought Onii-chan! See, told you we could find her, Onii-chan…?" the girl said, starting with enthusiasm but ending with confusion as soon as her eyes landed once again at Naruto.

The blonde had a fierce glare, his eyes glues to Zeref's black ones, while the dark mage simply looked at his apprentice with a stoic expression that made Kushina wonder if the man ever showed _any_ different expression.

The tension between the two was more than obvious, although it definitely came mostly from Naruto. The three Uzumaki looked worriedly between the two, wondering what had happened exactly that had angered Naruto so much; something that itself was a feat.

"We need to talk" the blonde mage said, his eyes glaring at the figure of the dark mage, who simply stared back.

"It seems we do" was the older mage's answer just before moving besides Naruto and putting a hand on his shoulder, however his next words were directed at the older red-head in the group.

"You should treasure what you have left, Uzumaki, instead of chasing what you have lost already" and with that both mages disappeared in a black light, leaving three shocked members of the Uzumaki clan behind.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

"Are you done?" Zeref asked, looking down at his blonde apprentice, who was kneeling on the floor a couple feet away from him, a hand on his stomach and his breathing erratic, doing his best to recover from the strike he had received from the dark mage.

Without answering and with a glare the blonde dashed at his teacher, reaching him in less than a second with a lightning covered right fist close to the older mage's face.

However just before it hit the man moved his head slightly to the side, avoiding a direct hit. A backhanded attack followed swiftly from Naruto, but Zeref easily moved backwards, avoiding it.

With his left hand covered in lightning Naruto slashed at Zeref's body like a claw trying to rip apart his prey, but his attack ended up meeting nothing, as the black-haired mage disappeared from the spot almost as if he was never there.

Naruto didn't have time to think though, since the next thing he felt was a blunt pain on his right side. His whole body was thrown aside until he impacted the wall. He had to do his best to suppress the grunt of pain.

It was then that he saw what hit him. A simple black sphere, around the size of his own head, which quickly moved away from him in order to float around Zeref, who was standing on the other side of the training room, three spheres rotating around his body, his arms crossed over his chest and an impassive look on his eyes.

"You must be really angry, if you're trying to pick a fight with someone that can kill you with just a blink, Naruto-kun" Zeref said, not really surprised by his apprentice's actions. While the ideal scenario would have been for the blonde to control his anger Zeref knew that this was the most probably outcome.

Humans were just like that, anger really made them do stupid things.

"Why…" the blonde asked with anger, his eyes golden with a mighty glare. He could honestly barely stand up, even thought this had just started ten minutes ago. Zeref's attacks were just too much for him, his sensei didn't even use that much magic and yet he wasn't even able to touch the older mage.

Was their difference in strength so big?

"Why what?" Zeref asked, sending the black spheres towards Naruto as soon as he saw the blonde standing up. Naruto tried to dodge but they moved too quickly for him, his weakened state not helping him at all. One of them landed straight on his stomach, taking away the air of his lungs, while the two other reached his legs, making him fall face down with a cry of pain.

"Why did you… tell them…why?" Naruto said between grunts, slowly trying to stand up again. However before he could do that another orb smashed right on his back, sending him straight to the ground again.

"Tell them what? About how you were attacked by people from this village when you were young?" Zeref shot back bluntly, making Naruto's eye to go wide in shock, not expecting his sensei to admit it just like that

"See? That's the problem, Naruto-kun" the dark mage said while slowly walking towards the defeated dragon slayer "For someone that wants to leave his past behind so much, you sure let it rule you"

"W-what?" Naruto grunted out, his golden eyes going back to dark blue, his rage being changed to shock and tiredness.

"You hate your family" Zeref stated, his eyes looking straight at his apprentice "You hate plenty of people from this village, but you always say how they don't matter anymore to you… that's a lie"

"This right here proves it" he continued while kneeling just in front of Naruto, who was still looking at his sensei with wide eyes "Why are you so angry, Naruto-kun? Is it because I revealed that part of your past to someone? Or is it because I revealed it to _them_?

The blonde mage wanted to say something, but no words escaped his mouth. It was as if Zeref's eyes were looking straight at his soul.

"The answer is irrelevant" Zeref said, knowing that this was a conversation the two should have already "The first thing I thought you how to control your emotions, however there is a difference between controlling and repressing them… if you keep letting stuff like this to affect you like that then all your training will have gone to waste"

Zeref knew just how much this could affect Naruto. Magic was ruled by emotions, and there wasn't a magic that depended more on them like dark magic. In theory, Naruto's negative feelings would fuel his dark magic, making him stronger than he would be normally.

However something like that didn't come without consequences. It wasn't rare for one's mentality to become corrupted due to the dark magic. Insanity wasn't a rare result when people delved too much in those kinds of arts.

This wasn't always the result of course. Some people could balance it out as long as something kept them chained to reality. Others, like he himself, depended on nothing more than control.

It was so easy, to simply follow the whispers in the back of your head. He had fallen victim of it a long time ago. It was only now that he didn't have a constant fight within himself in order to keep himself on check, all thanks to the Shinigami's seal.

He didn't know if that was a blessing or a curse. For a part he didn't have to keep at bay the _**Ankuseramu no Kuro Majutsu (Ankhseram Black Magic)**_ inside him, but on the other hand he was now chained to a being such as the Shinigami.

If he had followed the Shinigami's orders to the letter then he wouldn't have been having this conversation with Naruto at all, after all the God of Death wanted nothing but a weapon, a pawn that he could control as he wished.

But Zeref saw more on the blonde. He saw potential, something that when treated right could give this world a chance to survive whatever it was going to face. The Shinigami wanted a weapon, a pet, but something like that wouldn't be able to face what was to come.

It would have been easy if he had followed the Shinigami's instructions, but while Zeref had more things to regret than any human in this world, his relationship with Naruto was not one of them.

Before he simply didn't want to squash Naruto's potential like that, but now…He could no longer say that him watching over Naruto was simply out of his duty to the Shinigami.

"T-then what?" Naruto whispered, his eyes now glaring at Zeref once again, believing that his anger was still perfectly justified even if his sensei wanted to label what he did as some sort of _test_ "You're telling me then that I should just forgive them like that?!"

"No" Zeref answered swiftly, surprising Naruto "wear the shackles of your past, but cut the chains that keep hindering you. The longer you let this place affect you the more you're proving that they won"

"This right here proves it" Zeref continued while standing up "Attacking me was foolish, something that you did out of anger because of something I did… In this world there are people that will stop at nothing to kill you, and if you let them get to you like this then you won't be surviving much, Naruto-kun…"

The blonde ended up looking down with a frown, his mind now even more of a mess. A part of him truly believed that Zeref had broken his trust, but the dark mage was right, he had let his anger cloud him. He knew he was no match for Zeref and he still attacked him.

"And about your eyes…" to this the blonde's gaze snapped back to meet Zeref, who was now walking away from the blonde, so Naruto only saw his back "That's simply the result of your _shadow_ gaining more freedom. I can't help you with that, as that is something each person must handle by themselves… The only things I can is that you shouldn't reject him but make sure that you're the one in control, those things make the strongest allies, but also the most dangerous enemies"

"Stay here and think about what I said. Don't go out until you have sorted out your feelings or else you might attack someone out of spite" the dark mage finished before walking away from the blonde, leaving him alone to his thoughts.

Of course Zeref was sure that Naruto would be able to calm himself down. He knew about Naruto's shadow affecting him, but this was something that he needed to cope out by himself. He needed to become more independent, which was one of the reasons he had done this.

The future was uncertain. He doubted he would see the end of this war alive. He couldn't even trust the Shinigami. He needed to prepare Naruto for everything, and for that there wasn't a thing he wasn't willing to sacrifice.

The time to reveal everything to his apprentice was approaching fast.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Hours later_

A bland stare was the only thing that Naruto showed, his eyes focused on the house in front of him, the house of his best friend of course, but Naruto's mind was in a completely different place.

His mind repeated the events of the whole day, and every time it did he was filled with conflicted emotions. Anger, disappointment and betrayal being the strongest ones.

He had spent hours just thinking about everything, from his behavior to what Zeref had told him, to what even his own shadow had said, and in the end he had reached a simple answer

He _understood_. He understood what Zeref was trying to say to him. He got the lesson… but even then he hated it. He put his trust on the dark mage, and even if he wanted to put what he did as a test that didn't change the fact that, in his mind, his sensei had betrayed his trust.

He understood more of the man now than before, which considering how mysterious he was that was saying a lot. It honestly worried him, the fact that it took him so long to realize that the man valued results above anything else.

He honestly felt manipulated, and that was something the blonde hated, especially of someone he trusted so much like Zeref. But even after all of this he still _trusted_ the dark mage. Even though he knew that he was hiding something the man still held his trust.

That didn't mean his mind didn't wonder about his relationship with the dark mage though.

Should he really trust him at this point?

But if he couldn't trust the man he saw as family then… who could he really trust?

It was at that moment that the door in front of him suddenly opened, Naruto's blue eyes going up to meet another pair of black eyes, belonging to a girl sporting a surprised expression that quickly turned into confusion

"How long have you been standing there?" Sasuki spoke, not expecting for the blonde to be there. Her Onii-sama had just told her that there was someone at the door, which was weird already considering he shouldn't have known that but she had stopped trying to understand some of the stuff he did.

"I… Just got here" the blonde answered quietly, trying to not show his emotions on his face. To be honest a part of him had wanted to just stay at his house tonight in order to think, but that wouldn't have been fair for Sasuki so he ended up just showing up as planned.

Sasuki for her part just looked at him with narrowed eyes for a second before releasing a sigh and grabbing him by the wrist and pretty much dragging him inside the big, traditional looking house that the family of the head of the Uchiha clan normally used.

"Well whatever, food isn't ready yet so you'll just have to wait" the Uchiha said, barely even giving Naruto time to check his surroundings with how quick she was dragging him inside the house. The place itself didn't look any different from the last time Naruto had visited it, which considering that had been years ago it was quite surprising.

Then place was huge though, and Naruto was sure that if Sasuki wasn't leading him he would have gotten lost already. They made a few twist and turns, neither of them really speaking, until they reached a door that Sasuki quickly slip open.

"Stay here, I'll tell you when we're done with the food" the black haired girl then pretty much pushed him inside the room before closing the door, leaving the blonde by itself, blinking at how abrupt the girl had acted.

His eyes then roamed the room he was in. There wasn't really much, just a plain room with white walls, although in one of them was the symbol of the Uchiha clan. There was also a small wooden table at the middle of the room.

Having nothing better to do the dragon slayer simply sat down in the floor close to the table. He didn't know what the floor was made of but it was actually comfortable. His eyes then drifted once again to the Uchiha clan's symbol, although one could already tell he wasn't really focusing on it.

In fact he would have gotten lost in his thoughts if it wasn't for the door to suddenly sliding open, earning Naruto's attention. He expected Sasuki to appear, but instead he got another pair of black eyes looking down at him, the owner of said eyes holding a tray with two cups on it.

"Evening, Naruto-kun" Uchiha Itachi greeted the blonde just before entering the room and putting the tray in the table. He then sat down opposite of Naruto, who just looked surprised at the older Uchiha.

Sasuki had certainly told him how busy her brother was, so he honestly didn't expect to see him today, and yet here he was, drinking what appeared to be tea.

"Please" Itachi said while motioning to the other cup, to which Naruto understood easily.

Both Naruto and Itachi released a pleased sigh as soon as they drank the hot beverage. Naruto couldn't deny it that was probably the best tea he had ever drunk.

However his focus was now on the Uchiha in front of him. While the whole issue with Zeref was what had Naruto's mind in chaos there were also other things that were nagging him, and one of them were related to the man in front of him.

"Is there something troubling you, Naruto-kun?" and it looked like Itachi had seen that too, since the Uchiha was quick to ask.

"I… why didn't you stop the fight?" the blonde asked, earning a raised eyebrow from Itachi "I mean, after Gaara transformed you could have stopped it, but you didn't… I know a Jinchuriki is free to use the power of their Bijuu but it was obvious that Gaara wasn't really thinking straight"

"I could ask you the same" Itachi answered calmly, getting a frown from Naruto "I offered you to stop the battle but you denied my offer. Why?"

"I had already gotten that far, I simply wanted to finish it properly" that was half of the truth. The blonde had also underestimated Gaara's strength and his own condition for that fight, thinking that if he had been able to handle Menma then Gaara wouldn't be such a problem.

That had been a big mistake that almost cost him his life.

There was also something else though. He wanted to prove everyone there, especially to the people of Konoha, that he wasn't the dead weight that they once thought he was. That he wasn't worthless.

And yet even though he had been considered the winner and even promoted the part of him that wanted to prove himself still felt empty.

"We both know that isn't the whole truth" Naruto wondered if Itachi was just that good reading people or his own mask of indifference was really that bad "I saw it in your eyes that day. You had something to prove, so I simply gave you the chance to do so"

They both felt silent after that for a few seconds, Itachi drinking with his eyes closed while Naruto simply looked at him with a surprised face.

"Even if that meant putting the whole village at risk?" he refused to believe that someone like Itachi didn't know of how much damage Gaara could have done.

He certainly didn't expect the answer he got.

"Believe me, Naruto-kun, there wasn't a moment in which I thought anyone but Gaara-san himself were in any danger" this earned another confused stare "Your summon was pretty impressive after all, it remind me of the Kyubi, only even worse"

To this Naruto just nodded in acceptance, knowing first hand just how intimidating Acnologia was.

Their conversation was cut short though, since then the door was once again slid open, with Sasuki being the one opening it this time. The young girl looked at who were honestly the two most important guys in her life besides her Otou-sama with narrowed eyes before finally speaking

"Dinner's ready"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

Naruto was not a social person. Everyone that knew the blonde could easily tell you that. He had no problem admitting it either, often preferring to just hang out with Sasuki or spend some time alone instead of interacting with other people.

That didn't mean he couldn't act polite though. He knew he wasn't the best when it came to social interactions, but he also knew just how important Sasuki's family was to her, so he had promised to himself that he would at least make a good first impression towards them, not for himself but for his best friend.

Dinner with Sasuki's family was a quite affair, something that he really appreciated since he wasn't an overly talkative person.

Five people were eating around a small table filled to the brim with delicious looking food that would make anyone's mouth water, and while Naruto wasn't picky with his food but he had to admit once again this was the best food he had ever eaten, then again considering how his own cooking was pretty basic that wasn't a surprise at all.

At the head of the table there sat the current Head of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Fugaku, an imposing figure with the common black hair and eyes of the Uchiha clan. So far Naruto hadn't even heard the mean speak, and the only recognition he got from him was a polite nod, which he had of course returned.

To his sides sat his wife, Uchiha Mikoto, and his older son, Uchiha Itachi. The matriarch of the Uchiha clan had been the most expressive person so far, greeting him as soon as she saw him with a sweet voice and a kind smile.

And finally there was Naruto and Sasuki, who were setting besides Itachi and Mikoto respectively. Naruto wasn't really used to see his best friend so quite like this, but she could obviously tell how nervous she was for some reason.

Not only she looked visibly tense, but the fact that her eyes kept shifting from him to her father said a lot.

Honestly for Naruto it looked like this was going to be his whole night, just a quite dinner and nothing else. He was fine with that though, so he wasn't going to complain.

His expectations were destroyed once Fugaku's eyes focused on him.

"Naruto-san" the Head of the Uchiha spoke, earning everyone's attention except for Itachi, who simply kept eating as if no one had talked "I think congratulations are in order, after all not only you won the tournament but you were also promoted to Chunin"

It took a few seconds for Naruto to realize the fact that he was getting a compliment from Sasuki's father and that everyone was now looking at him, Fugaku with a serious stare, Sasuki with a nervous one and Mikoto with a weird tinkle on her eyes alongside a small smile.

"Thank you, Uchiha-san" Naruto answered respectfully with a small bow of his head, not expecting for the older man to speak to him directly out of nowhere.

"It's not surprising though" this time it was Mikoto who spoke "You showed a lot of potential, Naruto-kun. In fact I think calling you the strongest of your generation would be pretty accurate"

"Indeed" Fugaku spoke again, not giving Naruto the chance to answer "In fact I had never seen some of the techniques you used until I saw you fighting"

The blonde wasn't dumb; he understood the silent question being asked here. They wanted to know more about his techniques, but what could he say? Magic? Not only he couldn't say that but he doubted they would believe him in the first place.

"There was a man…" Mikoto spoke again, this time earning even Itachi's attention, who had stopped eating suddenly to look at his mother "He sat alongside us during the Exams, and he seemed to know a _lot_ about your fighting style, Naruto-kun"

Naruto just blinked at the raven-haired woman, his mind trying to process what she had just said. A man that knew about magic? How? There was only one real possibility here and he had to confirm it

"This man…" the blonde spoke with a serious voice "did he have black hair and eyes, and was wearing weird clothes?"

"It seems that you know him. He said his name was Zeref" Mikoto answered back, her eyes focused on Naruto's reaction alongside Fugaku and even Itachi. Sasuki was too looking at Naruto; however it was mostly worry what showed in her gaze.

Naruto tried to not show it, but his mind was thinking a mile per hour. What the hell happened with the whole secrecy thing?! It was bad enough that his sensei was parading himself around his _relatives_ but now this?!

What the hell was he supposed to answer? He had to play it safe since he really doubted Zeref explained to anyone that their techniques were magic, but denying that he knew the man at this point wouldn't work.

"He's my sensei…" the mage answered quietly, hoping to avoid more interrogation even if he knew that wouldn't happen.

"Sensei?" it was Fugaku the one that spoke this time, his eyes slightly more narrowed towards Naruto "I never heard about you having a different teacher" his eyes moved towards Sasuki for just a second before going back to watching Naruto.

"Kushina-chan didn't seem to know him either" Mikoto added her two cents, her smile, in Naruto's opinion, becoming even more predatory.

Now the blonde was in trouble, he knew that. He didn't find any option besides just lying, but he doubted that would work. He at least tried to keep himself calm though, and while a part of him wanted to look at Sasuki for support he doubted she would be much of help here.

However help came in the most unexpected form.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Naruto-kun" Itachi suddenly spoke, earning everyone's attention, with everyone there looking at him with different degrees of surprise "Hokage-sama assigned Zeref-san as your sensei for the month before the tournament. He's a wandering Shinobi who apparently owed a favor to Hokage-sama. He came here to watch the Chunin Exams and Hokage-sama assigned him as Naruto-kun's sensei since everyone else were busy either with preparing everything for the exams or training someone else"

Naruto could only look at Itachi with his mouth hanging open, shocked beyond believe. However he recognized when he was being thrown a bone, so he quickly recompose before nodding towards the Uchiha, his words coming out surprisingly smooth.

"I keep forgetting you were there when Zeref-sensei was assigned to me, Itachi-san" Naruto answered, earning a simple nod from Itachi; however the conversation was far from over.

"And why is this the first time I'm hearing this, Itachi?" Fugaku spoke with an edge on his voice, however if Itachi felt intimidated then he certainly didn't show it.

"Hokage-sama was adamant about keeping this arrangement under secrecy. That's probably why Kushina-sama didn't know much about it either. I am sure once Zeref-san joins Konoha as an official Shinobi of the leaf Hokage-sama will explain everything, Otou-sama. The only reason I even know this is because I was assigned to watch over the two for the first days of training"

Zeref, swearing loyalty to Konoha? Naruto had to suppress the snort that almost comes out. The day that actually happened would be the day he became buddies with Menma.

"T-that explains why I couldn't find you during the whole month!" Sasuki spoke for the first time, this time getting everyone to look at her. It looked like she wasn't prepared for that reaction and simply looked away with a blush.

"Hmm a special training and sensei just for you, Naruto-kun" Mikoto spoke once again, this time with a twinkling on her eyes that had some people in the table nervous "Is Minato-kun perhaps trying to prepare you to take over his clan rather early?"

"I doubt that" the blonde did his best to hide just how much that idea alone annoyed him. Even if the title of Head of the Clan was his right as the older one he would never accept such a thing.

Menma or Mito could have it for all that he cared.

"Even so…" Mikoto continued smoothly, her gaze going from Naruto to Sasuki, a small smirk forming in her lips "I hope that you still find the time to support Sasuki-chan as you have done so this far. Kami knows my heart feels better knowing that such a dependable young man is looking out for my daughter"

"Okaa-sama!" Sasuki's cry was loud and clear, a bright blush appearing on her cheeks while her eyes were practicing begging her mother to stop.

The only thing she got was a smile from the older Uchiha.

"Of course" Naruto said firmly, earning Mikoto's gaze once again while Sasuki looked at him surprised. Fugaku was also looking at him with a raised eyebrow while Itachi simply went back to eating "I mean, I know Sasuki can take care of herself but I'll do my best to support her in everything she needs"

"W-what are you saying, you idiot!" normally Sasuki wouldn't act like this in front of her family, but she wasn't prepared for the conviction in Naruto's voice when he said that. Her face couldn't honestly go redder, nor could she feel even more embarrassed at this point.

Naruto just looked at the black-haired girl in confusion, not understanding why she was getting mad. Is not like what he was saying wasn't true.

"Is that so…" Mikoto spoke with a small laugh "You know, Naruto-kun, I certainly wouldn't mind having a son-in-law just like you"

There was a plethora of reactions as soon as the matriarch of the Uchiha clan said those words.

Both Itachi and Fugaku tensed. It was subtle and no one else was actually able to see it, but it was there. Fugaku specially, who was now giving his wife a sharp look, while Itachi continued to eat as if nothing had happened.

Sasuki was the one with the most extreme reaction. It turns out her face _could_ get even redder. Her mouth was hanging open with her eyes as wide as they could be.

She was also doing her best to look at anywhere except towards Naruto.

Said blonde for his part was simply looking surprised, not expecting hearing something like that. Of course he knew that the woman was just teasing her daughter, but still hearing words like that from someone so close to Sasuki actually gave him a weird feeling he wasn't used to.

In the end the mage just resumed eating alongside everyone else, hoping for no more loaded questions.

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Half an hour later_

Dinner had continued and ended without any more problems, something that Naruto had been grateful for of course. After that Fugaku had just given him a firm nod and a small thank you for looking over his daughter, which had earned more comments from Sasuki herself.

The man had then excused himself, alongside Itachi, both saying they had things to attend to. Naruto had tried to talk with Sasuki's brother about why he lied for him but the ANBU just gave him a look before leaving.

Mikoto for her part had accompanied him to the door alongside Sasuki, saying that it would be a pleasure for him to come by again. Sasuki had actually left the two alone at the door, saying that she had to go look for something quickly and told him to not leave until she was back.

All of that was said with a glare of course.

"Ahh my daughter can really be quite a handful, doesn't she?" Mikoto said with a fond smile, earning a small node from Naruto.

"She's not that bad though" Naruto answered with a small shrug, earning nod from the woman herself.

"Do you mind if I ask you something, Naruto-kun?" Mikoto suddenly asked, earning a raised eyebrow from the blonde before he nodded, wondering what she was going to ask.

"How do you see yourself in the future?" the serious tone, alongside with the weird question caught Naruto of guard, making frown at the woman.

"Plenty of your former schoolmates have already decided what path they want to follow. Some of them simply want to follow their parents footsteps in leading their clan, while others have some more specific dreams" Mikoto explained "Even Sasuki herself, she wants to become part of the Uchiha police and ANBU, just like her brother"

"So I'm just wondering, Naruto-kun" the woman was smiling but the sharp look she was sending towards him put him on edge "What is it that you're aiming for? To become the head of the Uzumaki clan? Or are you aiming for ANBU too? Or perhaps… is it the position of Hokage that you're looking for?"

Naruto's eyes widened at hearing that. Him? Hokage? Now that would be a sick joke. A Hokage was supposed to put the village above everything else, even their own life.

Naruto was willing to fight for what he wanted, but he would never give his life for this village. His loyalty wasn't here.

However that did raise a good question in his head. What did he want? What was his objective? Before he just wanted to prove to everyone that he wasn't a dead weight but now… he couldn't say that anymore, or else the hollow feeling he had inside of him would increase.

"You're still young of course" Mikoto's smile became nothing but kind once again " so don't worry much about it, and if you ever need help with something feel free to come by, I'm sure Sasuki would love that too"

Speaking of the devil.

"Okaa-sama, I told you to stop saying weird things!" Sasuki arrived with a huff, a green vest Naruto recognized on her hands.

"Hai hai" the older Uchiha answered with a wave of her and before walking away "Make sure to walk Naruto-kun until he's out of the compound. Hope we can repeat this, Naruto-kun" were the woman's last words before she left, leaving both teammates alone.

"You left this" Sasuki suddenly said, pushing the vest into Naruto's hand "Back where you destroying trees, you left it there"

"Thank you…" He honestly had forgotten about this thing completely, but he guessed he needed to have it just in case. He doubted he would actually use it though.

And with that the two left the house.

They walked in silence, neither of them really speaking, both deep in thought while the light of the moon shined brightly down on the village.

While Naruto didn't mind the silence it honestly felt weird when it was just him and Sasuki like this, he honestly preferred when she acted normally, but the blonde could tell there was something in the girl's head so he simply waited, not wanting to annoy her.

She was the one that spoke first.

"Did you really meant that" if the blonde hadn't been paying attention he doubted he would have heard those words, after all Sasuki barely whispered them while looking down.

"Meant what?"

"What you said to Okaa-sama… that you would s-support me…" Sasuki answered, looking so shy for some reason that surprised Naruto a lot. Seeing her like this was extremely rare. He also knew that a bad answer would get him a big yelling but right now he only needed to answer with the truth.

So he did.

"Of course" the mage said with a much conviction as he could, making Sasuki to look up at him with narrowed eyes and with her cheeks dusted pink.

"Even if I were to do something stupid like starting a rebellion inside the village?" They weren't even walking now, just standing in the middle of the empty street while looking at each other's eyes.

"Well I would first try to convince you to not do something like that" Naruto tried to answer, earning a snort from the Uchiha "But I know how stubborn you can be so… I guess it would be you and me against the village" he finished with a small smile.

"I rather like those odds" Sasuki answered with a smirk before her eyes showed the fire of determination he liked to see in her "Then you better manage to keep up! Because when I'm standing at the top I want you right there by my side, Naruto!" the young girl ended while pointing straight at the dragon slayer, who was looking surprised at her.

It took Sasuki a few seconds to finally understand just what her words could _actually_ mean, and as soon as she did her blush appeared once again, while she was now waving her hands in front her like crazy.

"I mean, uhm, you know, just…" she tried to find the right words but she just couldn't. She was extremely nervous for some reason and now she couldn't even look at Naruto directly or else she might become worse.

Damn her mom from saying weird stuff!

Meanwhile Naruto was just looking at her, thinking about what Mikoto had said. He didn't have an objective or a dream, he hadn't thought about his future, with Zeref and his current situation he had only worried about the present but… things like this, with her, they actually made him feel _happy_.

As long as they could continue together in the future then he didn't have to care about anything else, not even whatever Zeref threw at him.

He put a hand on her head softly, catching the girl by surprise. She didn't move though, she couldn't, not only because of his touch, but also because of the smile he was giving to her.

It was a genuine smile, and she had learned to treasure the moments in which Naruto smiled like that.

"Let's get to the top then…together" Naruto said with confidence, looking straight at Sasuki's eyes.

And the girl could only answer one thing at hearing that, a bright smile on her face.

"Of course!"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

_Meanwhile_

"What are you trying to do, Mikoto?" Fugaku questioned his wife while sitting on their bed, said woman giving him just a raised eyebrow alongside with a smile.

"What do you mean, Fugaku?"

"Don't act coy with me, woman" Fugaku shot back with narrowed eyes "I know you, I know when you're up to something"

"Hmmm" Mikoto just hummed in response "I'm just trying to do what you failed to do years ago, my dear"

"And what makes you think you'll succeed? Minato was very clear about not wanting to marry his children off just for an alliance"

"Love also exists, you know?" Mikoto responded with a shake of her head "Our dear daughter is already smitten with Naruto-kun, and that young man has a bright future for him, especially once the Uzumaki-clan becomes his. Everyone is going to win from such a union, they just needed a little _push_ in the right direction. Not only that but even Itachi defended him…"

Now that was something that had unnerved both. They wanted to know more about Naruto's skills but Itachi had pretty much stopped them. The worst thing was that they couldn't pry more without asking Minato directly, even though both believed Itachi was hiding something too.

Sadly at this point they couldn't force him to tell them.

"You speak as if you were an expert" the head of the Uchiha clan said with a grumble "Don't forget who chose you as my bride, Mikoto"

"Oh my dear Fugaku" Mikoto said sweetly with caressing his cheek with her hand, her Sharingan suddenly activated. Fugaku wasn't slow though, and just as quick activated his "It's cute how you think you ever had a choice"

**NoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoCNoC**

**I won't give excuses, I know this update is late as fuck but what can I say. Sorry for taking so long though, honestly.**

**This few chapters have been rather slow, but that's because we're close to the end of this part of the fanfic. I would say only 5 more chapters to finish it.**

**I know I said this chapter would start the snow arc, but it ended up becoming too big for it. Don't worry the arc is coming next chapter, or at least the start of it.**

**Also for those that have PM me, I do try to answer those, however I barely get internet and when I do I spend that time on other things. I will try to answer them faster now so thank you all for your patience.**

**Thank you all for keeping up with me, especially with my horrible grammar and my update speed. Your support really means a lot!**

**Next Chapter: Similar past, branching futures**


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